10 Back-to-School Prayers to Lift Up the Kids We Love
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Summer’s never quite long enough.
Though I’m not a fan of heat or humidity, I do love the slower pace of the summer months. Our family takes a break from regular extracurriculars, leaving room for more downtime and hangouts with friends. We savor these days and will them to slow down. Yet here we are, turning the page on a new school year.
Whether you have kids at home or kids in other areas of your life, I invite you to join me in praying for them as they head back to school.
Here are ten requests we can voice on their behalf.
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3 Prayers for Their Hearts
1. Peace
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
You, Lord, are the God of peace. You bring order out of chaos, wholeness from brokenness, and rest to our weariness. I pray that my child will experience you as their peace. May they know you deeply and find you irresistibly beautiful. May they learn to talk to you about everything and know your peace guarding their hearts. May hope fill their souls and push out any despair so they can experience deeply-rooted faith.
Amen.
2. God-Esteem
“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it” (Psalm 139:14).
Creator God, what a masterpiece my child is — your handiwork, made in your image to reflect you to the world around them. Spotlight any lies they’re believing about you or about themselves. Speak truth over those lies. Renew their minds so they can live out of your truth from the core of their being. Give them confidence to live as you’ve created them, and help them see themselves in the bigger story you’re writing for all humanity. May they find deep fulfilment in living out your calling on their lives.
Amen.
3. Protection and Health
“But let all those who go to you for safety be glad.
Let them always sing for joy.
Spread your cover over them and keep them safe.Then those who love you will be glad because of you.
Surely, Lord, you bless those who do what is right.
Like a shield, your loving care keeps them safe”
God of angel armies, there are so many things that could harm my child: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Be their shield and protector. Spread your favor over them and keep them safe. Give them wisdom to avoid dangerous or compromising situations. Protect them from those who’d want to harm them. Teach them to practice wise physical and mental health habits. Train them in the spiritual disciplines that will help them walk deeply with you.
Amen.
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4 Prayers for Their Relationships
1. Friendship with God
“I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace (Isaiah 54:13).
Lord, you are a deeply personal God. And wonder of wonders, you call your followers friends, inviting us to know your heart. I pray that friendship with God would be my child’s deepest desire. May they hunger for ever-increasing intimacy with you. Give them a holy dissatisfaction with empty religion or self-righteous morality. May they “set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). May they love your Word and may passion for you burn in their souls and ignite revival among those around them.
Amen.
2. Friendship with Peers
“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).
Giver of all good things, please provide healthy friends for my child. I pray for wise companions, others who love you and can encourage my child to press closer to you. May spiritual topics come up naturally in their conversations. May they learn to “do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor” (James 3:18).
Give them friends, too, who don’t yet know you and help my child be a light to them. Give them boldness to share how you’re at work in their lives and kindness to meet these friends where they are, without hypocrisy or superiority. May they embody the love, welcome, and integrity of Christ.
And for the hard relationships, the ones where my child is being bullied or otherwise mistreated, teach them to speak up, get help, and hold healthy boundaries. Provide the advocacy they need. Help them remember their value in your eyes.
Amen.
3. Family Relationships
“Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Perfect Father, thank you for the gift of family. Teach us to love each other well. I pray for a spirit of kindness, that we’d intentionally invest in each other and learn to offer tenacious love. Help us lean into hard conversations with honesty and respect. Teach us to extend and receive forgiveness. May our home be a safe place for each family member — a place to know and be known, accepted as we are and supported as we grow.
Amen.
4. Wise Mentors
“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble” (Proverbs 13:20).
Holy Spirit, please bring safe adults into my child’s life to serve as mentors — teachers, youth leaders, and family friends. May they affirm and invest in my child. Give my child humility to seek out time with these adults so they can learn from them, ask questions, and receive input and even correction, when necessary. Use these adults to mold my child into the person you’ve created them to be.
Amen.
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3 Prayers for Their Education
1. Love Learning
“Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!
And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.
If you prize wisdom, she will make you great.
Embrace her, and she will honor you”
God of wisdom, please give my child an insatiable hunger for truth. Help them learn good study and research skills. Give them diligence and tenacity and a healthy dose of curiosity. May your Word be the filter through which they view the world and evaluate the knowledge they receive.
I pray that my child would stay aware of the addictiveness of entertainment and learn to use it wisely. Help them cultivate a healthy relationship with their devices and welcome accountability in this area.
Amen.
2. Overcome Learning Challenges
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Almighty God, you can do infinitely more than I could think to ask. So, where my child struggles with learning, pour out your grace. Teach them creative methods for focusing, unconventional ways to learn, and new skills for remembering what they’ve studied. When comparison or shame rears its ugly head, let your voice speak louder. Tune their hearts to hear your truth. Help them be gentle with themselves. Give them a healthy framework for evaluating personal success and allow them to sense your pleasure when they’ve done their best.
Amen.
3. Grow in Discernment
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:9-10).
Loving God, my child faces so many challenges to their faith and personal flourishing. May they be deeply, inextricably rooted in your vast love for them. May this love hold them fast through every storm they face. Give them discernment beyond their years so they can know the difference between truth and lies, darkness and light, wisdom and foolishness.
I especially pray that they’ll know truth about your heart. May they trust your Word and follow it, even when the world promises freedom without responsibility and indulgence without accountability. May they choose to honor you. May they be willing to stand alone when necessary. Give them a Christ-centered mindset so they can live as children of light and ministers of reconciliation. May they be known for their love and characterized by your Spirit’s fruit.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
As our kids settle into a new school year, let’s make sure they know we’re with them and for them. Let’s tell them how we’re praying for them and invite them to share specific requests as they arise. And let’s keep an ongoing conversation about how God is at work in their lives through the year ahead.
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