It’s time to prepare for a new school year! Teachers are organizing classrooms. Families are shopping for clothes and school supplies. Emotions are running high and low like the most unpredictable roller coaster ride of the summer.

It is exciting to see friends and have fresh challenges in learning, but a new school year can also bring worries, concerns, and questions.

Recently Penny Reeve wrote about praying for our kids at school. Why not take time to write a back-to-school prayer with your child or teen?

What You Will Need

• fun paper or stationery
• a colorful envelope
• a pen or pencil
• a picture of you with your child
• the Bible

Writing the Prayer

• Begin by exploring God’s Word about worry and concern.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7  NIV

 Read about prayer in Matthew 6:5-13.

Read about worry in Matthew 6:25-34

• Talk about what is exciting about the upcoming year and what is cause for worry or concern.
• Help your child write his or her prayer to God. Encourage him to begin with praise and thanksgiving, express his concerns, and close with turning the year over to God’s care and guidance.
• Write your own prayer for the school year.
• Place both prayers and a picture of you with your child in an envelope.
• Seal the envelope and put in a place of reminder – on a bulletin board or on the side of the frig.
• When praises, answered prayers, and worries pop up, be sure to remind the child of the prayer of dedication for the year and pray again.

Fast Forward to the End of the Year

Even though it doesn’t seem like it now, the school year will go quickly. On the last day of school, plan a special time to open the prayer letters with your child. Thank God for His guidance and provision throughout the year.