7 Prayers to Cover Students This Upcoming School Year

1. Students Starting at a New School

Father God,

We thank You so much for a brand-new school year that is about to begin. Father, we know that starting a new school can be hard, even for those beginning college, so we lift up those preparing to enter new environments. We pray, Lord, for them to see these opportunities as fresh, exciting, and full of potential. Please help them engage in their courses, connect with new teachers, and know that this new place is a pivotal time in their lives to experience new adventures. Help them to thrive in these new environments.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

2. Prayer for Anxious Students

Father God,

We know that as a new year approaches, many students' anxiety can arise. The fears of the unknown and new expectations can be daunting. Please help give these students peace that transcends understanding (Philippians 4:6-7) and the knowledge that you are with them no matter what they face. Comfort them with Your voice; remind them that they are seen, known, and loved, and give them wisdom and discernment wherever this year leads them. Help us as loving and caring adults in their lives to be keenly aware of how to pray, how to support, or how to encourage students even if they show no overt signs of anxiety. Please give us a sensitive heart towards Your Spirit so that we may know what to say, what to do, or how to love them in the exact way they need this semester. Help us be vessels of Your Holy Spirit so that we may be Your hands and feet here on earth and help others feel loved by You through our actions.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

3. Prayer for Learning

Father God,

Thank you for the gift of education and the outlets students have to learn. We pray for their young minds as they enter a new year to absorb, learn, and grow their minds. We pray for their teachers to teach truth and not opinion. We pray that the enemy's plot to corrupt young minds would be thwarted in Jesus's name and that the learning that takes place is rooted in You. Lord, we pray for the knowledge and understanding that will not solely come from textbooks and teachers but the learning that will come from what You have to teach them this year as well. Help us as we support them.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Klaus Vedfelt

4. Prayer for Good Friends

Father God,

It says in Your Word, "Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33), and we know this to be true. Father, we pray for good friends for the students we care so much about. Lord, surround them with godly people who will walk alongside them in life's journeys. Help them find like-minded individuals who thirst for righteousness, truth, and for You. Please also help them to be a good friend to those they are around and ultimately inspire those they interact with no matter the occasion. We pray for friendships authored by You so that they may experience the gift of community through the body of Christ, even as children.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

5. Prayer for Reliance on God

Father God,

It is becoming ever clearer just how desperately we need You, so we pray that our students will have the same conviction and realization. Reliance on You is a gift, forging the opportunity for relationship with You more richly. Lord, be it through trial or triumph, we pray that the seasons that are to come for our students this year will result in the awareness, the desire, and the hunger to know You more deeply. Even when they feel weak, we pray for them to remember, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We pray that students will find strength in You and You alone. We pray their reliance on, in, and through You grows, and that this year will be a testimony of the deeper rooting of faith in their lives.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

6. Prayer for Faith

Father God,

We pray for faith in our students. We know that we were not made to live this life alone; we need You every step of the way. Help us to be used as conduits of Heaven to speak life, thought-provoking questions, and ultimately encouragement to children to seek You in relationship more than ever. We pray that they would come to know You more than ever and seek Your wisdom, voice, and Word in every problem or piece of their lives. Lord, we pray that these children would call You Father and that the greatest lesson they would learn this year would be that You are good and kind, and You love them deeply.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

7. Prayer for Refinement

Father God,

We pray for refinement for our students, their schools, and beyond. The world is filled with so much that is not of You, so we pray for refinement in all areas. We pray that our students would become deeply aware of Your character through seeing the fruit born from refinement. Lord, we pray for schools to make choices that honor and glorify Your Name and Your Word, and we pray the students are the benefactors of these choices and decisions. Lord, we welcome refinement so that all that is left is what You have authored and decreed.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

As the school year approaches, we can become easily swept up with to-do lists that we forget the most important task ahead is to keep our eyes on God and our hearts in prayer. Remember that you have been given a very special gift by God to be a part of a young person's life (Mark 10:13-16), and it is a duty to pray and intercede for them. Even if you are nervous or afraid, ask God for help to live by example, speak life, and be a light to them this school year. Remember that we are all His creation; He desires for us to follow Him as His children. Your prayers make an impact!