At number 9 in the top 10 of the most-read blog posts in 2013 is a post from Carl Laferton, first posted on 4th September.
It’s back-to-school week in the UK. Some children are starting a new school; most will be going into a new class or form. Some will have been looking forward to it; others dreading it. All of them need our prayers—so here are five things to pray for a child (or children) in your family, or your church family, as they return to school, based on James 1 v 17-21:
1. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (v 17). Give thanks for this child, for the gift from God that they are. And pray that they would grow in thankfulness to God over this academic year, not taking the good things they have and enjoy for granted.
2. “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth…” (v 18). Thank God that there is a word more precious than any of the ones any child will learn or look at in school this year. Thank God that he gives new life through faith in his Son, who we meet in his word. Pray that your child will come to faith, or grow in faith, this year—and pray that you would want this for them more than any educational achievements or qualifications.
3. “…that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (v 18). Pray that your child, if they belong to Jesus, would speak and act differently to those around them at school, because they belong to God’s new creation. Pray that in them, others would see how great it is to know Jesus. Pray that they would be willing to stand out, and if necessary to miss out, in order to live as part of God’s people.
4. “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (v 19). Pray that your child: would be a caring listener to classmates, noticing and giving time to those who are hurting or lonely; would speak words which point to Jesus, not to themselves; would respond to being wronged (and let’s face it, playgrounds can be horrible places at times) with love and forgiveness, not anger and revenge.
5. “Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word” (v 21). Pray that the word would have more influence on your child than the world. And pray that your child would not believe the lies of the world—either the obvious ones (“Your happiness is all-important”, “Porn is harmless”, etc) or the less obvious ones (“Good grades are all-important”, “If you work hard and obey well, then you are a good person”).
Five things to pray, and five days in the school week. Why not use one of these five Monday to Friday, to pray for a child/children’s school life? And could you share these prayers with others at your church, so that your church becomes a church which prays hard for its children as they head off into the world this week, and every week?
Carl is Editorial Director at The Good Book Company and is a member of Grace Church Worcester Park, London. He is the best-selling author of The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross and God's Big Promises Bible Storybook, and also serves as series editor of the God's Word for You series. Before joining TGBC, he worked as a journalist and then as a teacher, and pastored a congregation in Hull. Carl is married to Lizzie, and they have two children. He studied history at Oxford University.
