Lord, we acknowledge and worship You as the Source of all truth, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. We confess that it’s only through knowing You, Your Word, and Your ways that we can grow in wisdom, knowledge, and truth, and be able to live the joyful, peaceful, meaningful, victorious life that You created us to enjoy and long for us to have. 

We pray as this school year starts — and throughout the year/s to come — that You will instruct our children, grandchildren, spiritual children, and all other children in Your righteous ways and guard them from the temptation to stray from Your path that alone leads to abundant and eternal life. Give every student an insatiable desire to read, study, and meditate upon Your Words of Life that are found in the Bible, the foundation for equipping them to live victoriously. May Your Word be a lamp that guides their every step and illuminates the path they are to take (Psalm 119:105).

We dedicate all children — especially those whom You’ve placed in our families and entrusted us to educate — to Your almighty and ever loving care and ask that You will instruct them in all truth. We ask that You will draw them to Yourself and give them the knowledge of Who You are, knowing that apart from You they can do no good thing, but through Your power at work in them they can do all things (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13). May they come to know You and love You with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength and love others as You love them (Matthew 22:37-40).

We ask that You will guard and protect them from all harm and the many evil schemes of the Enemy to subvert Your will for their lives. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit so that they may discern what are lies and what is the truth. Empower them to obey the commands You’ve provided in Your Word for their good and Your glory and to resist every temptation from Satan. Give them the wisdom and discernment to recognize the lies they might hear about Who You are and who they are, especially as it relates to their sexuality and the gender that in Your wisdom and loving kindness created them to be. May they know that You have created all people of every skin color and ethnicity in Your glorious image, and everyone — including themselves — are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ by You and created for Your glorious purpose and pleasure. May they never be prideful and think they are better than anyone else or believe the lies of the Enemy that they are ‘less than’ others. Rather, may they know that all people are sinners who need a Savior, and all people are valuable in Your sight, so much so that You gave Your life to save all who put their trust in You.

Let them know that You are with them every minute of every day, that You will never leave or forsake them, and that therefore they need never be anxious or afraid. Give them the faith to comprehend how wide, deep, long, and high Your love is for them; that You are the One Who ‘knows them best and loves them most’ (Ephesians 3:14-19). May they not only know Your love for them, but may they also demonstrate Christlike love to all other students, teachers, and administrators. May they never compromise the truth, but faithfully share it with kindness, gentleness, and respect. May they know it is for Your glory and for their good that they would grow in Christlikeness, becoming more and more like Jesus, Who was willing to put aside His own desires, feelings, and will in order to obey His Heavenly Father’s perfect will, even when it meant suffering (Philippians 2:1-11).

Give students of all ages courage and boldness to withstand peer pressure, and even the pressure that may come from teachers and administrators who seek to enforce policies and instruct them in ways that violate Your teaching. Give them the strength to stand for truth and righteousness in these days when, ‘what is evil is being called good, and what is good is being called evil’ (Isaiah 5:20). We ask that You give them the faith, wisdom, discernment, and boldness that You gave to Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were also called and empowered by You to live righteous lives in a culture that did not support worship of You and obedience to Your ways.

We pray that you would give them teachers and classmates who would encourage them in their faith. May their lives be ‘salt and light,’ faithfully reflecting to others in their school setting Who You are. May they communicate honestly and openly with their parents what they are being taught so that their parents will be aware of what their children are exposed to in the classroom.

Above everything else they learn this year, may they learn that You are God, You are sovereign, You are always good, You love them with an unfailing love, and You have created them for a glorious purpose that can only be fulfilled by having a personal relationship with You. We thank You that You are the One Who created our children, grandchildren, spiritual children, and all of the children we don’t know but You know and love, and we rejoice that we can trust them to Your always perfect will and always loving care. We trust that You Who began a good work in them will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6)! We pray these things for all who are attending pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, graduate school, and all other institutions established to educate, whether they are home-schooled, in private school, or public school. In the Name of Jesus, the Name above every Name. Amen.