Prayer before an exam
For the board exam you studied two years for, the finals, the licensure you sat for the third time. A prayer for the night before, the morning of, and the long days waiting for results.
What to ask for
Ask for a clear head, not for the answers. Ask for sleep the night before, for calm hands, for remembering what you studied. Everyone who has taken the nursing, engineering, teacher or bar exam knows that the enemy on the day is not the questions but the fear.
And ask for the people taking it beside you. On the wall, the exam petitions with the most candles are the ones that pray for the whole batch.
While waiting for results
The weeks between the exam and the list are their own kind of exam. Pray the short prayer once a day and then do something else with your hands. Whatever the result, you will need the same things afterwards: people, and something to do next.
A prayer you can say
Lord, I have done what I could. Tonight, let me sleep. Tomorrow, keep my mind clear and my hands steady, and bring back to me what I studied when I need it.
I am not asking to be spared the test, only to meet it as myself. And bless everyone sitting it with me. Amen.
Holy Spirit, be my calm. Read each question with me. Let me not rush, and let me not freeze. Whatever the outcome, I offer this day to you. Amen.
How to pray it
- Say the night-before prayer and then close the books.
- On the morning, say the short prayer once, before you leave the house.
- On the wall, post the petition with your exam date and let others light a candle for you.
- When the results are out, come back and tell them, whichever way it went.
Other prayers
Last revised September 29, 2026