A Prayer for Back-to-School Week

The pencils are bought. The clothes are ironed. The lunches are packed. Back-to-school season is officially underway. 

 

For parents, back-to-school season can bring with it all kinds of emotions—ranging from fear (What will happen to my child when I’m not there?) to relief (Thank God for teachers!) to sadness (I miss my child!). Regardless of what emotions you are currently experiencing, as parents, let us begin the school year by praying over our children. Though we are not with our children in the classroom, God is. May God draw our children closer to Himself this year.

A Prayer for Back to School

 

Lord, You are everywhere.

 

You are with me as the school bus pulls away from our house, and You are with my child as she sits in the back row of her new math class. You are with her on the playground and during lunchtime. You are everywhere. 

 

Lord, I am not everywhere. You know my desire to protect my child from all hurt, but I can’t. I don’t know everything. I can’t protect her from every scrape and bruise, whether from falls on the playground or hurtful words from other kids. But Father, You are with her every second of the day, and You see everything. So as our good and heavenly God, please protect my child this school year.

Draw her closer to Yourself through the joys and stresses of school. May she learn how to depend on You this year—how to pray and meditate on Your Word throughout the day. 

 

Guide her thoughts from conforming to ungodly desires—from the desire to perform to body image influences to peer pressure. Let Your Word define her reality and her truth, not the pressures from teachers or expectations of other students. Let her care about what You think more than anything else—from how she does on a test to how popular she may be. 

 

Protect her mind and heart, and let her grow in Your image this year. Help her to put others above herself and be a good friend to those around her. Help her to study hard and apply herself toward learning, and may she grow in maturity, grace, and self-control this school year.

 

Help her make wise choices—from choosing good friends to treating her teachers with respect. And when she fails, let her learn the joy and beauty of Your grace. Lord, draw her to Yourself in both victories and failures, and help her to rejoice in Your abundant love for her.

 

Lord, let our relationship continue to grow. I pray that my child will continue to come to me with the details of her day, both little and big, and that I will be able to offer her godly counsel as she grows up in this world.

 

Father, You are in control. I am not. Though I am not with my child every second of her day, You are. Please guide, protect, and care for her this year, I pray. 

Amen.