Back To School Prayer Guide – 2023 Edition

It’s Back To School time! As parents, grandparents, guardians, friends and others in the community, we begin a new school year with many concerns, apprehensions, and hopes. What better way to begin this school year than to begin in prayer? Here is a Back to School Prayer Guide to help you both now and throughout the school year. This prayer guide is general enough to fit all types of education (public, private, co-ops, college, homeschool).

We once again begin a new school year with some COVID-19 concerns. Thankfully, in most places, the concern is just over the persistent virus and not on all the requirements from state and local governments. Each of us wonders the impact it continues to make on our children, parents, parent-educators, educators, and schools. Who knows what the next nine months will bring; however, we want to continue to pray for this issue. The fear associated with it and the potential frustration of another year with uncertainty concern us. We want to pray that people will trust God even in the midst of this continued pressure.

Under each category below in the Back to School Prayer Guide, the bullet points contain prayer requests or starters for you.

Back To School Prayer Guide

Students (for all students generally, especially grades K-5):

• Desire to honor God above all else
• Sweet attitude toward others
• Submissive spirit toward authority
• Patience and understanding with others
• Choosing to follow God rather than follow others
• Best effort for God’s glory
• Self-control
• Discerning heart for truth (versus non-truth)
• Godly friend choices
• Being a good influence on their friends
• Protection and safety (including physical and spiritual)
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

Junior High (Middle School) and High School:

• Desire to honor God and walk consistent with their faith, to walk worthy
• An awareness of being an ambassador of Christ
• Developing godly friendships and relationships
• Wisdom
• Resist temptation and a desire for purity (both in thoughts, online and sexually)
• Respond well to pressure and hardships (academics, relationships, tests)
• Transitions (from building to building, changing schools, changing districts)
• Safety (at school, during athletics, while driving)
• Respect their teachers and authority in school
• To stand for righteousness while submitting to authority
• Focus on academics as they prepare for life
• Be committed to sharing the Gospel as they have opportunities
• Accept the learning process as part of God’s plan for their life
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

College:

• Live out their Christian faith in word and actions to those around them
• Remain worldview sensitive as they interact with in-the-classroom and out-of-the-classroom material and others with differing belief systems
• Love the learning process as part of God’s plan for their life
• Love the gift of the local church and it’s gatherings, accountability, and its service to one another amidst the pressures of a typical college student life
• A strong desire to fight sin and temptation – especially among others sex and lust
• Purity
• For growth and maturity, both spiritually and in general life wisdom
• For strong friendships and future godly spouses
• Contentment with where God has them
• Biblical understanding of biblical manhood and womanhood
• Doing one’s best for the glory of God (not settling for low expectations)
• Travel safely
• Provide jobs that work well with school and necessary finances
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

Teachers:

• Wisdom in preparation (content, time management, various delivery methods)
• Graciousness toward students (poor attitudes, disobedient, disrespectful, when sinned against)
• Patience with strugglers (with getting the content, with life in general)
• Handle stress in a godly manner (as it builds up throughout the year)
• Purity with other teachers (friendships, attitude)
• Choosing to be a mentor to the children as the children watch them
• Kindness, tenderheartedness, and love
• Provide them an eye and heart for the strugglers
• Ambassadors of Christ wherever they are
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

Support Staff (cooks, cafeteria, transportation, office, paraprofessionals, counselors, maintenance, custodial, safety officers):

• Awareness of the necessity and importance of their positions – often the first person with whom students, staff and the public interact
• Servant spirit
• God-honoring relationship with students
• Patience with all types of constituents
• Godly communication with each other and other constituents
• God-honoring conflict resolution
• God-honoring attitude under pressure
• Safety (general building safety, physical, transportation)
• Specific to custodial staff – health and stamina
• Specific to transportation staff – safety on the road
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist (Many of these are on the front-line of dealing with this virus! Pray for things like dealing with masks, social distancing, health, fear, calendar changes, rule changes, dealing with disappointment, sensitivity to parents, etc.)

Coaches:

• Desire to invest in the lives of children
• Balance – balancing a desire to win versus doing every child’s best
• Honor Christ in winning and defeat
• Preparing athletes to be good citizens, to take the next step of life
• Wisdom in decisions regarding athlete’s health
• Eyes to see past the Xs and Os to see athletes who need encouragement, an example, a friend, a mentor, a loving voice
• God-honoring attitude under pressure
• Safety in transportation, competition, and practice for their teams
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

Administrators:

• Respond godly to authority (the school board, other administrators, head masters, legislature, Department of Education)
• Lead by godly example
• Exhibit servant leadership
• Engage others with general grace
• Empathy with parents
• Respond to the pressure from various constituents
• Wisdom related to curriculum (common core debate, state standards, etc)
• Compassion for district and school families and the hurting
• Patience in the many different situations
• Christ-centered perspective as they lead
• Team spirit in regard to parents, guardians, and grandparents
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

Volunteers (in the classroom, outside the classroom – office, coaches, PTA, others):

• Servant / selfless spirit
• Awareness of ministry opportunities as they present themselves (maybe as simply as a smile or a word of kindness)
• Sweetness of spirit toward others
• Gospel / Christ-centered intention (motivated by Christ to serve the community out of love versus merely motivated to serve because it’s your child’s school)
• Creativity and ingenuity as they seek to serve
• Resistance to entertaining gossip
• Deaf ear to politics
• Parents would prioritize volunteering
• God would honor the sacrifice of personal and family time to serve others

Homeschool Families:

• Much of what is above also applies to this group as well
• Honor God – toward each other (parents and children) in the home
• Student of the Word every day
• Wisdom for curriculum choices and extracurricular activities
• Diligent and self-disciplined (parent and children)
• Manage time well (parent and children)
• Heart for learning (parents who must stay ahead in the curriculum)
• Patient and wise planning
• Positive example for those outside the homeschool community
• Responding wisely and godly to those who may question or critique model
• Encourager to other homeschoolers or those who may have questions
• Co-ops (leadership, organizational challenges, building complications, COVID concerns)
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist

Parents:

• Awareness of God’s grace
• Wisdom and discernment with what’s going on in the child’s life
• Develop and model a heart for Christ
• Wisdom to build opportunities to get into the child’s life
• Awareness of the voices of influence in the child’s life
• Ability and discernment to help the child critique culture
• To know when and how to engage the child
• Godly response to authority (school, government, teachers, coaches, etc)
• COVID-19 Complications as they occasionally persist (fear, disruptions, attitude)

Join me in praying for our children and others as school begins - here's how. Share on X

A Parent’s Back To School Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank You for the beautiful gift of my children, and for the blessing of their education. I trust in Your providence and Your promises, and ask for Your blessing on them as they begin this new school year. Please help them remember Your presence in times of fear, anxiety and stress. Give them confidence and hope in You. I know You made them unique in Your image, and that You have great plans for them! As they bump into challenges, disappointments, joys and achievements, thank You for being present in their lives and give me the wisdom to guide them and point them toward You every day, and in every thing. Please give the teachers, staff and administrators wisdom and endurance as they begin the long school year. What a gift these men and women are! I thank You for them all. Please surround my children with good community, with kind friends and wise teachers. Please keep them safe at school as they travel to and from there. Let my children be a light for You in their classrooms! Let them spread joy and gratitude each day. Thank You Father, for your many blessings! In Jesus Name, Amen.*

A Child’s Back To School Prayer:

Dear God,

It’s a new school year! I know every day won’t be easy, but I know You are with me in everything. Please help me to be a good friend to everyone I meet, and please help me to work hard and try my best on my school work. I know that You have big plans for me, and that You want me to honor You in everything that I do. Please help me to remember the strength You give to me each day to start each day with a loving heart, a peaceful spirit and a thankful attitude! In Jesus Name, Amen*

As our children get back into school, here is a Back To School Prayer Guide to help you pray for them. Share on X