For almost the past 25 years, August makes me immediately think of back to school. As soon as I turned the calendar page from July to August, I was starting to think about lesson plans, bulletin boards, open house, the list went on and on. Many trips were made to the store for crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, and construction paper helped to get my first grade classroom ready to welcome students. Yet, the most important thing that I could do to prepare for back to school was to be praying for each student that would be in my classroom.

H.B. Charles said, “Prayer is arguably the most objective measurement of our dependence upon God. The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle. The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.”

You may be a teacher, have a child who will be starting preschool or even a child heading to college, or you may not have school-aged kids providing you with a great opportunity to pray for your neighbors, friends, and your local school districts. Or, you may be a teen or college student looking to prepare your own heart at your head back this fall.

Prayer is an essential part of getting ready to head back to school.

We have put together a list of blogs/articles to help you pray!

• Praying the Word: When Your Kids Go Back to School This blog from Risen Motherhood contains a passage of Scripture, an example prayer, and some guided questions to help you make it your own.

• 7 Back to School Prayers for Students Jacqueline Crowe shares 7 prayers for students to pray to prepare their hearts as they head back to school.

• A Back to School Prayer Melissa Kruger shares several prayers based on verses from Psalms and Proverbs.

• Last School Drop Off, Last Drive-to-School Prayer We loved reading these prayers that Jen Oshman prayed over her daughters on each drive to school.

• How to Spiritually Prepare for Back to School The Daily Grace Company shares a practical way to create a school year prayer plan.

• Loved Bible Goes to College This blog has lots of great resources for supporting those heading off to college. Any college student would love to receive a letter with a prayer written for them!

We hope these resources will help you as you are praying for those in your life who are heading back to school.