Back to school: 5 things to pray

The summer is winding up and a new academic year is about to begin. Schools are often at the heart of the community—and so it’s great to take this opportunity to make them the focus of our prayers.

Here are five things to pray, all drawn from Proverbs 1 v 1-7. You might also find them helpful to pray for your own children as they head into a new term.

1. Thank God for learning

Thank God that he has provided everything we need “for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight” in his word (v 1-2). 

While human minds enjoy unravelling the puzzle of how the world around us works, God has not left us guessing on the question of why—he’s told us clearly through Scripture. That’s a big reason for thanksgiving!

Then pray that God would make this school a place where students and teachers…

2. Get future-proofed

Pray that students would learn “prudent behaviour” (v 3). 

Thank God for the way he uses education as an instrument of his common grace in restraining the effects of sin on society. Pray that this school would teach children “prudent behaviour”, and equip them to make choices that do good, not harm, to others as they grow up.

3. Love fairness 

Pray that students would learn to do “what is right and just and fair” in God’s eyes (v 3). 

Sometimes it seems that our culture’s definition of right and wrong is drifting further and further from the Bible’s definition. But pray that children in this school would be taught that what God thinks is right is indeed right; that what God says is just is indeed just; and that what God says is fair is indeed fair.  

4. Learn discretion

Ask God to teach “discretion to the young” (v 4).

Kids can be very cruel with their words. So pray that these children would learn to control their tongues and speak words that are kind and patient, not offensive or mean. 

5. Fear God

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (v 7).

Pray that students and teachers would come to fear God—and realise that this is far more important than all the knowledge the world offers. Pray for Christian teachers you know, and anyone else who has an opportunity to witness to the gospel—ask that they too would fear God, not humans, and so speak faithfully and courageously of Jesus.  

This blog is taken from Five Things to Pray for Your World: Prayers that Change Things for Your Community, Your Nation and the Wider World. Released Friday, but available to pre-order now.