8 Back to School Prayers for Parents
The wiry branches of our poplar tree nod in the breeze, and I brace myself for the coming change. These leaves will soon begin to wither beneath the late-summer heat. At the same time, our family will shift into new rhythms as another school year greets us. As I watch the poplar prepare for autumn, I pull out my list of back to school prayers for parents.
I wrote these prayers a few years ago, and every year, I use these prayers to pray our kids into the new school year.
Back to School Prayers for Parents
May these prayers richly bless your family today and in the months to come.
8 Back to School Prayers for Parents
1. Pray that your children will learn to find their hope in Christ.
Above all else, I want my kids to find their hope in Christ. More than any other prayer, I pray for my kids to find their hope in Christ when life is difficult. I pray they will learn how to find hope in him instead of putting their hope in improved circumstances, human strength, other people, or anything else.
Let’s pray for our children to lean into the One who will never forsake them.
The Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
2. Pray for your children to find their joy in the Lord.
Like circumstantial hope, circumstantial happiness is fleeting.
Pray for your children to find their joy in the Lord. Pray they will learn to press into him and encounter him as their source of comfort. Let’s pray for the supernatural filling of the Holy Spirit to overflow through our kids so that his joy is their strength.
The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
3. Pray for the strength to stand against temptation.
When I pray for my kids to stand against temptation, I claim the promise in this powerful Scripture: God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
2 Back to School Prayers for Parents to Pray Over Their Children’s Friendships
4. Pray that God will provide like-minded friends who will encourage your children in their faith.
As most of us have learned, bad company corrupts good character. Our children’s friends are important. Pray for God to bind your children with others who love him.
I pray this prayer often over all three of our children. By the grace of God, he has answered this prayer for each of them. However, I will continue to pray this over them for as long as I live.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14
5. Pray that God will draw the hearts of your children’s friends (and their teachers) into closer intimacy with him.
Pray he will direct their footsteps, inspire their words, and fill them with strength for whatever is set before them.
I love praying for my kids’ teachers. This kind of prayer also softens my heart and opens my eyes to the deeper needs of my children’s teachers. It equips me to live out the gospel as I encourage these hard-working public servants.
I love praying for my kids’ teachers. This kind of prayer also softens my heart and opens my eyes to the deeper needs of my children’s teachers. #backtoschoolprayer #prayersforteachers #prayersforstudents Share on XDraw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8
6. Pray for the light of Christ to shine through your children and your family.
Pray for the words, attitudes, and actions of your family as you connect within your sphere of influence. Ask God to help you glorify Christ as you reach out into the world.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14
7. Pray for God to unite your heart with your children’s hearts.
Ask God for a sensitive and discerning spirit to speak truth into your children’s unspoken and hidden struggles. Pray your children will see you as a constant ally and an ongoing source of support in the midst of a chaotic world.
Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
8. Pray for your children to find their identity in Christ alone.
Ask God to help your kids find their identities as Christ’s beloved children. Pray for freedom from the desires to conform to the world, prove themselves to others, or live from achievement-based identities. Pray for opportunities to speak into their unchanging identities as Christ’s deeply loved sons and daughters.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
A Free Devotional Book to Help You Pray Powerful Prayers for Your Kids:
Do you want to be more consistent in praying for your kids? Would you like tools to help you prioritize prayer? I have a gift for you today. Check out my free online devotional Change Your World Through Prayer. You’ll find printable prayer charts, Scripture-based prayers, and an awesome idea you can use to create a prayer-filled Bible for each of your children. Click here, and I will send this free resource to your email inbox. 
Calling All Mothers and Daughters!
Lastly, in addition to writing to adults, I am also passionate about ministering to the next generation.
My 12-year-old daughter Bekah and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book together, and it is designed to help moms and daughters connect and grow in faith together. It’s called Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a journaling section. We had a blast writing it, and we are so excited to share it with you. Our vision is for girls ages 7-17 to enjoy it with their moms, grandmas, or older women they look up to.
You can buy your paperback or eBook on Amazon right here. This book also makes a powerful gift for the mothers and daughters you care about! We encourage you to check it out!
