A powerful moment of prayer between three coffee shop employees and a grieving widow has now been shared by thousands online after a customer captured the act and uploaded it to social media.

Workers at the Dutch Bros Coffee drive-thru in Vancouver, Washington went beyond the call of duty when they served a bereaved customer who was visibly upset.

Pierce Dunn, a Christian barista at the coffee shop chain, was informed by another colleague that a female customer was in tears because her 37-year-old husband had passed away the night before.

On hearing the news, the 19-year-old told KPTV he said to his co-workers: "There's nothing more you need to say. We got this. We're going to do what we do every time we get someone who's in pain or hurt. We're going to give them our love."

Without hesitation, Dunn and his colleague gave the woman a free drink and then Dunn asked the woman if she would like him to pray with her. She accepted his offer of prayer and he reached out his hands to hold hers. Colleague Evan Freeman and a third co-worker also joined them in prayer.

In an interview with Oregon Live, Dunn said: "She was crying. I shed a few tears. We've cried since as well. When something that real happens, it hits close to home."

Unbeknown to the employees, another customer, Barbara Danner, was so touched by the gesture that she took a photo of the interaction and posted it to the Dutch Bros Facebook page. The post has over 120,000 shares and has been liked more than 354,000 times.

In the caption of the photo, Danner wrote: "When the DB guys & gals noticed she was falling apart, they stopped everything and prayed with her for several minutes, invited her to come back for prayer and support, as well as anything else that she might need."

The coffee chain's Facebook fans have also been sharing their thoughts on the image. Annette Hannah wrote: "One of the most touching stories of the year so far...Thanking God for these amazing employees, and for Dutch Bros Coffee for allowing their employees to be themselves on the job!".

Despite the picture's popularity and the overwhelmingly positive response it's had, Dunn told the Daily Mail that he hopes the viral image doesn't take away the intimacy of the moment for the woman if she decides to return.

The woman, who is not pictured in the photo, was reportedly "extremely grateful".