Annie Yorty
These transitional days back to school mark a critical need to lay a foundation of prayer for our children. Our best resource for prayer is the Bible because it contains God’s will for us. Meditate on the following verses and ten prayers for the school year. As you pray, include the names of your children to make them personal.
1. A Prayer for Protection
Father God, there is no one more capable than You to protect my children—not even me. Under Your strong covering, they find refuge, safety, and security. Please surround my kids with Your love, faithful promises, and power as they go about their days at school. Protect them from accidents as well as from anyone who might seek to inflict intentional harm. I ask You to give wisdom to the administration as they create and enact policies to ensure safety within school boundaries. When they travel to and from school, I humbly request Your protection there as well. Amen.
2. A Prayer for Wisdom and Insight for Teachers
Father God, You are the source of all wisdom. You desire to transfer Your knowledge and understanding to everyone. I’m grateful for teachers at school who know and follow You. Would You please give them strength, wisdom, and courage to stand for the truth within their classroom? I pray they will study Your Word and seek to apply it to their calling of teaching. For any teacher in school who does not yet know You, would You develop a thirst for truth that cannot be quenched with anything but You? Open their spiritual eyes so they may learn to respect and honor You in their classroom. Amen.
A Prayer for Godly Friendships
Father God, You created my children to need and desire relationships. You are the cord that sustains strong friendships. My children often feel uncertain and worried as they grow and change. Please give them discernment as they choose friends at school. Provide a friend who stays devoted to You and help them to grow in You together. When one falters in faith, please give the other the strength to pray and lift them up to You. Amen.
A Prayer for Pure Hearts
Father God, none of us is born with a pure heart, but You offer us holiness through Your Son, Jesus. Your enemy, Satan, has influenced the world around my kids with thoughts and behaviors that oppose You and would stain their hearts. Please give them the strength to offer themselves fully to You so they will be transformed from the inside out to be holy just as You are holy. Amen.
A Prayer for Light that Shines
You wish to create beacons of hope for a lost world through my children. Please teach them to obey Your Word so their good deeds shine to administration, faculty, and other children within their school. May each one who encounters my children see You in them and praise You. Amen.
A Prayer for Balance
Father God, the pressures of school, sports, and other extracurricular activities often distract my children from You and strangle their hearts with anxiety. But You have provided a way to prioritize and balance their lives. Please teach them to desire You above all else and help me to model Your priorities to them. Give them the wisdom to seek balance and simplicity that leaves room for the higher calling of knowing You and Your righteousness. Amen.
