Praying for Back to School

It’s hard to believe, but summer is coming to a close! We have been intentionally praying with our kids as we have been preparing for the school year. A really simply way to do this is to follow along with our back to school prayer calendar. You can download it by filling out the form below and print it at home. Use it through August, but don’t be afraid to repeat it through the fall! We also include a blank calendar if you want to create your own.

There are many other ways that you can pray for your personal school year, your teachers, and your child’s classmates, here are some of our suggestions:

Praying WITH Your Kids for Their School Year

1. Pray for any fears. If your child is nervous about starting a new year with a new teacher, riding the bus for the first time, or starting in a new school building. Pray over those fears together now. Pray that all of their new experiences would be positive.

2. Pray over school supplies. When we get home from school supply shopping, my kids love to lay their new supplies on the floor and look at it. Take that as an opportunity to pray. Lay your hands on your brand new things and pray that they would be tools for learning.

3. Pray to be an influencer. When my son was in preschool I started praying that my kids would be influencers on their peers (really, he got in trouble and then I started praying this.) We talk about this often at our house and praying about it before school starts is a great reminder for them.

4. Pray for your schedule. Bedtime and mornings are SO hard in the fall. Kids melt down. Parents melt down...at least at my house. Everyone gets exhausted. So we might as well pray about it now! Take some time while you’re praying before bed to ask God to be present during these transitions and that they would go smoothly.

Praying For Your Child’s Peers

Your child's classmates: they are the kids that your child spends most of their day with, so as parents, it is important that we pray for them.  It is also good for your child to practice praying for them since they will be spending so much time together.  Who knows the fruits you will see from the practice of your child praying for his or her classmates?! Here are some ideas to help you get started:

Pray Over Your Class List

It is powerful to pray over someone by name. If you have your class list already, pull it out and go down the list, praying for each student. Here are some ideas:

• Ask questions about the classmates that your child knows.  Things like, "What do you like about Emma? Let's thank God for that." 

• Pay attention to what your child is saying, take note if they pray for anything specific.

• If your child starts to speak negatively about someone, try to reframe.  Remind your child that God wants us to speak kindly about others and ask how we can pray for that student instead of talk negatively about them.

• For the classmates that you don't know, pray that they would be excited for school, that they would be comforted from any fears, that they would have a wonderful school year.

Pray That Your Child Would be an Influencer. Again.

We already talked about this, but I think it is so important.  Peer pressure is so real and it starts at a young age. Pray that your child would be a positive influence on his or her peers.  Similarly, pray against temptation. Maybe memorize 1 Corinthians 10:13 together or turn it into a Pocket Prayer! 

 God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what  you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can endure it. -1 Corinthians 10:13

Pray That Your Child's Class Would Work Hard.

Trust me, your child's teacher will be grateful if you pray this for the class.  Pray that your child's class would listen well, work hard, learn a lot, and have fun!

I will be working to memorize this short prayer with my first grader and two preschoolers. I hope it becomes a mantra for our school year (and really, the rest of our lives too). I welcome you to join me:

"Jesus, thank you for my teacher, my school, and all my classmates. Help us to be confident, kind, graceful, and ready to learn."

Praying For Your Child’s Teacher

Thank God For Your Child's Teacher

Firstly, thank God for the new adults in your kids' lives-- teachers, teacher's aides, nursery workers, coaches, tutors, babysitters, etc. Thank Him for these special grown-ups who are willing to pour into the next generation and positively influence these young hearts. Thank him for your teachers by name. Thank God for pairing your son or daughter up with this specific teacher according to his will.

"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus," (1 Corinthians 1:4).

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

God, thank you for Mr./Ms. ______________. Thank you for placing my child in her or her class and for his or her heart for students.

Pray For Your Child's Teacher To Know Jesus

If your child's teacher is not a believer, pray that God would reveal himself to him or her. Pray that God would use you and your child to show them Jesus and to be a light in the classroom. Pray that your teacher would notice something different about you and that you might have an opportunity to share about your faith. Pray that they would come to know that Jesus is the way, truth, and life! “

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

God, thank you for Mr./Ms. ______________. I pray that he/she would come to know you and surrender their life to you this year! Remind me to pray for this daily and show me how to be a light in his/her life!

If he or she does know Jesus, pray that she would continue to grow closer to Him. Pray against the enemies lies. Of course, he would want to tear down teachers since they have such a special role. Get in your favorite prayer place before school for a few minutes each day and wage war against Satan's plans for teachers! "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith." (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Pray that Christian teachers would reflect Jesus to their students. This is hard to manage in a non-Christian school, but so valuable! “Whatever work you do, do it with all your heart. Do it for the Lord and not for men.” Colossians 3:23.

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

God, thank you so much Mr./Ms. ______________ knows you and loves you. Help him or her to grow closer to you each day and to reflect you to each of his/her students.

Pray For Your Teacher's Energy

Since teaching is so exhausting, demanding, and disheartening at times, let's pray for teachers to get enough rest at night, to be filled with new energy to meet the kiddos each day, and to ultimately be renewed by the Holy Spirit!

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

God, thank you for Mr./Ms. ______________. Thank you for his/her generosity. I pray that she prospers in all she does and I pray that you refresh and renew her for each day. Give him/her the energy needed for each day and help him/her to not grow weary in doing good

Pray For Wisdom For Your Child's Teacher

Teachers have to make hundreds of decisions each day. They need to know how to differentiate instruction to meet everyone's needs. They need to decide when to correct and discipline, how to intervene, how to problem solve, how to bring peace into a chaotic situation, etc. Pray for your child's teacher to be full of the Father's love for each child and to lean on the wisdom that comes only from Him.

“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” (Proverbs 31:25-26)

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

Give _________ wisdom and kindness as she interacts with my child and with every child in her class.

Pray For Guidance To Best Support Your Child's Teacher

Sometimes I would include a note in my son's folder just thanking his teacher for what a great job she was doing and I would just include something like this, "Our family is praying for you as you care for 31 four and five year olds...you are amazing!" When she missed a few days of school, my son prayed for her and colored her a picture with a prayer written out on it as well. Speak words of encouragement over your child's teacher. It will brighten their day and maybe God will prompt us to do this on those days when they might feel ready to throw in the towel in and instead will be affirmed and encouraged by our words!

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

God, please give me wisdom and make me sensitive to the needs of Mr./Ms.__________ . Help me to know just how to pray for, encourage, and bless him/her this year.

Teach Your Kids To Pray For His/Her Teacher

Here is a simple prayer you and your child can memorize and say every day.

EXAMPLE PRAYER:

Dear God, Thank you for Mr./Mrs. __________. Please remind __________ that you love him/her and fill him/her up with everything he/she needs to be a great teacher! Amen.