When I think about praying for our kids as they go back to school, so many things pop into my mind. I can pray for:
- Good grades
- Good study habits
- Good behavior with teachers and friends
- Good friends
But I wonder if this is really what I need to be praying for them. Is this how God wants me to pray for them? Does the Bible teach us how to pray for our kids as they go back to school?
I remembered that we have Jesus’ example in the passage sometimes referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17. In this passage, Jesus prayed for Himself, His disciples, and for all believers. In praying for His disciples, Jesus knew that He was going to be leaving them and sending them out into a less-than-friendly world. Ever feel like that is what you are doing when you send your kids off to school?
So, what did Jesus pray for His disciples?
- He prayed for them to be unified with God and with each other just as He had always been one with the Father. Pray for your kids to be plugged into God and His power every day and for them to have Christian friends to bond with – to support each other in good and bad times.
- Jesus prayed for protection from the evil one for His disciples. Pray that God would protect your children from the lies of the devil – lies about themselves, lies about the temptations that face them, and lies about God.
- Jesus also prayed that His joy would be completed in His disciples. There is a lot of scary stuff out there in the world, but the truth is that our God is sovereign. Pray that your kids would lean on their loving Father and would be joyful because they know He is with them.
- Jesus asked his Father to sanctify His disciples by the truth – His Word. The disciples were going out into the world, but Jesus wanted them to always be set apart while in that world. God’s Word does that. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be constantly reminding your kids of the Word they have memorized – the truth that will help them to live as God’s kids while they are in this messy world.
There are so many things we can pray for our kids this year, but let’s always keep Jesus’ model in the front of our minds.
Let’s pray for our kids to be unified with God and other believing friends; for protection from the schemes and lies of the devil; for complete joy in their Father; and for them to be set apart by God’s truth.
Sounds like a recipe for a great school year!
