After decades of hard work, retirement can be bittersweet, and it’s understandable if we feel a mix of happiness, sadness, nostalgia, and longing. Through this retirement prayer, we can talk to God and ask for His guidance and comfort. Talking to Him can help us prepare for the years ahead of us with a positive and grateful heart. He will also help us adjust to retirement now that we have more free time on our hands. May this retirement prayer help us whenever we feel lost or sad about this new chapter of our life.
Prayer for retirement
Dear God,
For six days, You created the universe, meticulously adding the tiniest, wondrous details to every creature and to every substance. Yet after all this, You set aside the seventh day for rest. After my years of hard work, it’s my turn to finally reap the rewards of my diligence and rest as I appreciate how far I’ve come.
Forgive me if I’ve fallen short of Your glory numerous times. My journey through my career was not easy, but it was fulfilling and made me realize things that I wouldn’t have learned if all days were easy and comfortable. Thank You for seeing the potential I held and helping me maximize it to its fullest. I hope that the slow climb toward success will be a story that many more people, especially newer and younger employees, can use as a reminder to never give up.
Thank You for giving me satisfaction and wisdom after many long years of service. Thank You for a life devoted to diligence and learning, for the experiences, both good and bad, that shaped me into the person I am today. Thank You for helping me nurture and grow my skills into great talents that I can teach to others and for helping me become someone that younger generations can look up to. It was a rough journey, but one that I am grateful to have experienced because it molded me into someone I am proud of. Without You, I wouldn’t be here, savoring success and welcoming rest.
May this retirement, although sad, become an opportunity for me to spend more time with my loved ones, especially my family members. May I now have all the time and energy I need to make up for the years I lost as I dedicated myself to my career and earning for my family. May each sunrise bring forth another day not just to enjoy the fruits of my labor but to continuously apply what I learned throughout my years as an employee. May each night remind me of the rest I deserve and worked hard to earn. May I use my retirement as a way to rediscover myself and reflect on how I have changed and grown as a person throughout the course of my career.
I hope that my retirement will leave behind a legacy of success that will leave a lasting impact at my workplace.
Amen.
Short prayer for retirement
God Almighty,
As I say a bittersweet goodbye to my career of many years, I pray that You will give me comfort and wisdom. I know that nothing can replace the sweet successes of my job and the wonderful, inspiring people I’ve met along the way, but I hope that my retirement will be an opportunity to chase things that I truly love but did not have time for.
Amen.
The Word of God
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and up they shall begin to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting; and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the duty of the service and serve no more. They may assist their brothers in the tent of meeting in carrying out their duties, but they shall perform no service. Thus you shall do with the Levites in assigning their duties.”
Numbers 8:23-26 NRSVUE
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 NRSVUE
Intercessory prayer to Saint Joseph the Worker
Saint Joseph,
You’ve worked honestly through the years, diligently providing for your family and faithfully following the Lord’s commandments even in times of danger and uncertainty. I ask for your help in bidding farewell to my job and career. I feel sad because I’m letting go of a part of my life, and I feel anxious about my future. As I turn this page and begin a new chapter of my life, I hope the decades of service I rendered will inspire others to work honestly and diligently.
As I look back on my career, I realize that I have climbed the highest of mountains and sailed through the stormiest of seas. Years ago, I was new to the field, stressing about difficult projects and workplace annoyances. Now I look upon them like they’re my fondest memories. I know that time will usher in new generations who will take my position at my workplace, and it gives me a wonderful sense of nostalgia. Saying goodbye may be sad, but I hope that the legacy of honest work and perseverance will inspire many more people. I hope that they, too, will learn the value of hard, honest work.
Saint Joseph, pray for me. Amen.
Further reflection
After long years of dedication and service, finally, letting go of our responsibilities can be overwhelming because it has become a part of our daily routines and maybe even our identity. It’s normal to feel nostalgic and empty when we’re letting go of something that has been integrated into our life. When we applied for the position, we saw it as a job: a means to earn a living. But years later, we leave it with a different perspective: it is no longer a mere job but also a sort of home: our workmates, flawed as they may be, have become a second family, and our daily tasks, no matter how stressful, have filled our life with familiarity.
Although we feel sad about retiring, remember that it’s our own ‘Sabbath chapter’—a time for rest after lots of hard work. God Himself devoted a time for rest after He created the wonders of the universe. Some people see retirement as the end of life’s joys, but it’s actually not. A shift in perspective can help us see it as an opportunity to focus on things that we love and no longer have to worry about running out of time because of our job.
Stay calm and enjoy the time it takes to adjust to the unfamiliar. Make use of the free time we now have to catch up with family, friends, and old hobbies and to learn new hobbies and activities. We should reward ourselves for the successes we’ve had through the long years. As we offer a prayer when retiring, remember that the Lord listens and is working behind the scenes to guide us to this new chapter of life.
