Short Prayers for School: 8 Prayers for Your Kids
Our mornings typically begin with a familiar rhythm. There are commands about brushing teeth and making beds. We search for missing shoes and cross-country uniforms. Amid the chaos, I try to pray over our kids, but it doesn’t always happen. If you can relate, I’m sharing 8 short prayers for school today.
Pick just one of these prayers to pray every day, and your kids will be blessed. Speak these prayers over your kids or invite them to pray as well.
Short Prayers for School: 8 Prayers for Your Kids
I originally wrote these Bible-based prayers at the start of a new school year, but now I pray them all year long. My hope is that these prayers will help you pray for your children as well.
Short Prayers for School
May these short prayers for school help your children turn to Jesus throughout their days.
1. “God, help me remember to turn to you in the hard moments today.”
Above all else, I want my kids to find their hope in Christ. My first prayer for them every day is that their trials will lead them closer to Christ. I pray they will learn how to find hope in him and not merely in their circumstances.
Let’s pray for our children to lean into the One who will never forsake them.
This is a biblical prayer based on the promise found in Deuteronomy 31:6, which reads, “The Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
2. “God, help me find my joy and strength in you today.”
I want my kids to place their hope in the God who is always with them. I also want them to find their joy and strength in him.
Let’s pray for our kids to find their strength in the joy of the Lord. Pray they will not rely on their own strength as they go about life. Pray they will find deep joy in the Lord, joy that goes beyond circumstantial happiness.
This prayer is from Nehemiah 8:10: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
3. “God, help me do the right thing all the time.”
Imagine how different our world would be if everyone lived by this motto: Do the right thing.
When I pray for my kids to do the right thing, I am praying for them 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).
Imagine how different our world would be if everyone lived by this motto: Do the right thing. #prayer #prayersforkids Share on X4. “God, help me share your love with others.”
We are never too young to share the love of Christ with others.
Our children can pray this prayer as they go into the world and interact with teachers and friends.
We can teach our kids that they are God’s vessels.
Four More Short Prayers for School
5. “God thank you that you are always with me.”
God promises that when we draw near to him, he draws near to us (James 4:8). We can pray that our children will experience the reality of his comforting presence. When we encounter the Living God, we are changed from the inside out.
Our children will face moments of feeling alone at times.
We can teach them that they are never truly alone because God will never leave them. When they draw near to him by asking for help, he responds.
6. “God, let your light shine through me.”
Matthew 5:14 reads, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Pray for others to be drawn into the love of Christ through the light shining through your children and your family.
7. “God remind me that you are strong when I feel weak.”
The Apostle Paul wrote that God’s power is made perfect when we feel weak.
The world will tell your children to hide their weaknesses or cover them up with facades of sarcasm and false strength.
Remind your kids that gentleness is true strength. Teach them that they don’t need to fear weakness. God’s power is revealed in their lives when they turn to him in weak moments.
8. “God, thank you that nothing can take your love away from me.”
As you pray these prayers for your kids, one of the most important prayers involves their identities as God’s dearly loved children.
Ask God to help your children find their worth in God’s love for them. Pray for freedom from the desires to conform to the world, prove themselves to others, or live from achievement-based identities.
If these short prayers for school blessed you, I invite you to explore our family devotional books below. These were written with help from our three children.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 7, 12, and 16, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. I also recently released a teen devotional called Anchored, designed to help teens learn key biblical narratives and apply them to their lives. You can find these books here or read more below. 
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Devotions for Boys by Boys
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
These Books Are Free on Kindle Unlimited: God Wants to Heal, Restore, and Refresh You
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. He also wants to help you establish a rhythm of meeting with him daily as you trust him with the hard parts of your life. Click here to explore two books that will guide you: Be Still and Trust and Lean Into Grace. They are free on the Kindle Unlimited program and for sale in print.
Download Your Free Devotional Here
Set Free: Let God Do What You Cannot explores ten realms in which most of us need God to work in our lives and bring deliverance. We’ll talk about finding freedom from fear, worry, insecurity, bad habits, emotional pain, and more. This short online devotional will bless you as you let God accomplish what you’ve been unable to achieve through willpower. Get your download for free with promo code GRACE or for a donation of 3.99 here. Thank you. This small gift helps keep this ministry running.
I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here!
