We are sharing a series of blogs focused specifically on praying over the new school year. For the next 10 days we will be praying over parents, teachers, administrators, support staff and students. Please share your prayer in the comments or join us on Facebook to post your prayer there!
Dear Father,
Thank you for the gift of another school year, another opportunity to be fully alive in learning who we are in Your beautiful story. May parents, teachers and students step into the grace of growing in you. As parents and teachers may we model what it means to walk in the way of Jesus for our students, may we love them unconditionally, may we love our neighbors relentlessly, and may we draw our students toward Jesus!
We pray for our students. May they feel safe in their new classrooms; safe to explore, experience and evaluate all of life under God. May they fully engage the world around them – Your world, and in so doing come to a deeper knowledge of You as creator, sustainer, and lover of all of life. Give them good health and attention to their learning. Grant them confidence that they belong fully to You, and in this confidence may they spring forward to thrive and flourish as Your children.
We pray for our teachers and support staff. May they return well rested from summer break, ready to love and serve the students in their class well. May they rely entirely on you at the beginning middle and end of each day, month and school year. Give them the wisdom to facilitate learning experiences that draw their students into the wonder of You. Give them the grace and insight to know their students as individuals, and therefore to foster their unique development into who You created them to be. Give them deep joy in their vocation, so that they may be renewed by the knowledge that this is Kingdom work!
We pray for our families. Keep them healthy. Throughout this year may our families grow closer to You and each other and therefore be light and salt in their neighborhoods. Help staff and parents to partner well for the good of the children in our schools. May the threefold cord of home, school and church work together to create a consistent message of love that builds Your Kingdom!
And in all Father, we submit our planning, teaching, assessing, playing, singing, eating, and sleeping to Your will and to the good of Your Kingdom. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt, Amen.
By Dave Loewen
Dave Loewen is the Superintendent of Surrey Christian School. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Trinity Western University and Leadership Associate for Society of Christian Schools in BC. Dave holds a PhD in Education and is currently studying Theology for the pure joy of it! He is married to Sharlene and the father of Chloe, Olivia and Ilyah. Together they seek to participate in the work that God is doing in His world.