When playing a guild(/character) with an investment in
religion, should you generally seek out a god early on or
should you already have a reason for your character to have
the ability to cast/commune/etc, independently of a god, that
is later only enhanced/affected by the god?

Do some people just pick an active god, stick it in their role
and worry about shrines/pray command much later through more
natural ic play?

I assume a character could just attempt to worship god X, but
ultimately be misaligned and get rejected and that would be
fine right?

(link to role example would more than suffice if anyone knows
something relevant)

nice mud btw

On these forums under the 'Battlefield' folder there is a link
to Premium Battlefield.

If I was you I would read the roles of some of the
healer/paladin/shaman or other religiously titled characters.
This would show you how most people handle your question.

It's very varied by character.