Praying For Our Children At School

I met Christy Baca on a retreat I led in TX. Christy ended up coming to She Speaks and was in my critique group. I asked Christy to contribute a guest post today that I think will speak to those of you who have kids in school. She has sent out several emails to her friends with specific scriptures she was praying for her children that week, encouraging us to pray scripture over our children as well. I recently asked her to write about her adventure in praying for her children as they are in school because her emails have helped me as we have transitioned to school with ours... and I thought that it might help some of you as well!

Psalm 5:1-3
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Praying for our children. It is essential in raising them to have a faith that is unwavering, and to have a foundation in that faith to stand the test of life. If you have kids in school then school becomes their life. School is their world.

I remember taking my oldest to Kindergarten 7 years ago. I walked her in, sat down at her colored table and got her settled into her new Kindergarten world. I left her there in the hands of her teacher and the administration of that building. Trusting that she was in good hands and that she would make good choices. As my younger daughter and I drove out of the parking lot that morning she said to me, "Well it looks like it's just you and me now huh mom?" With a HUGE smile on her face (quality time is one of her LOVE languages)

"Yes I guess it is Morgan," I replied...I had to hide the tears. Even writing this I cry as I recall that memory. Although it was just me and Morgan, physically, the Lord was with us and the Lord was with McKenzie. He was the only one I could call out to protect her and watch her when I couldn't.

Prayer is the source of comfort I find when I send my girls to school each year. I truly believe that out of the prayers that were prayed over McKenzie that year she came to know her Saviour; she was baptized the following spring on Easter Sunday. What a blessing and what a joy to see that kind of growth come in such a short time. Since her walk with Christ began she has been through some tests, but the Lord continues to be her turning place.

Morgan, our youngest, began Kindergarten three years after her sister. When I left her I drove away alone. It was me and my Lord. He was all I had. That was a defining moment for me as a mom and as a daughter of our Father. Prayer is all I had to be connected with my girls during the day. As the days went by and struggles became apparent I found myself looking to the Word for strength to give to them.

Each of our girls have experienced their own struggles as they are at school. Our oldest has struggled w/missing school due to health issues and still keep her head above water to maintain good grades; then in middle school she went through the typical mean girl stuff you hear and read about and has learned about grace and mercy and forgiveness. Our youngest has learned that the Lord is faithful even in changes that life brings us that we can't control. She was moved from her school last year to a new school. The first three weeks were extremely difficult for both of us. However, the Lord was faithful to show Himself to her. She was voted as Student Council representative of her class and immediately that became a place for her to find belonging. In the hard time of that transition I reminded her daily that even though I am not there and even though her best friends from her old school aren't there Jesus is there and He wants her to tell Him when she is sad or scared or lonely. This year she began her last year at her school with confidence.

The following are prayers that I pray for our girls as they are in school and then some that I pray when things come up:

The first 12 are taken from a bible study written by Denise Glenn - Freedom for Mothers
When I pray these I put their names in places that personalize the scripture:

That they will know Christ as Saviour early in life. (Psalm 63:2; 2 Timothy 3:15)

That they will have a hatred for sin. (Psalm 97:10)

That they will be caught when guilty (Psalm 119:71)

That they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives: spiritual, emotional, and physical (John 17:15)

That they will have a responsible attitude in all their interpersonal relationships (Daniel 6:3)

That they will respect authority over them. (Romans 13:1)

That they will desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong friends. (Proverbs 1:10-11)

That they will be protected from the wrong mate and saved for the right one. (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

That they as well as their future mate will be kept pure until marriage. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

That they will learn to totally submit to God and actively resist satan in all circumstances. (James 4:7)

That they will be single-hearted, willing to be sold out to Jesus Christ. (Romans 12:1-2)

That they will be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or places and that wrong people cannot find their way to them. (Hosea 2:6)

I have also ALWAYS prayed Psalm 91 over our girls. It is a Psalm of protection.

Psalm 61:1-5 is one I prayed when I was in Romania in 2007 and is excellent for praying for our children when they are away from us.

Psalm 59:1-2 is one I prayed for McKenzie often last year as she went through MEAN GIRL junk. Psalm 56 goes in the MEAN GIRLS category as well.

I Peter 5:7 For anxious children or moms

Deutoronomy 33:29 when either of them are fearful of something

I have learned that it is effective to pray for them while they are away to give me comfort, but in order for them to hear and believe the words the Lord has given us as parents it is more effective to pray over them out loud. I have become more intentional to pray specific prayers for them and with them out loud.

The Lord has been faithful to us in so many ways and a lot of them are linked to our children and their struggles. Our job as parents is to be faithful to pray for and with them. The Lord wants to show us His power and what better way to show us than through His faithfulness in our prayers.

Thanks Christy for writing this great post! Was it helpful to you? I have been very convicted to pray for my kids throughout the day and these scriptures are a great guide for how I can do that!