This time every year I like to remind all of us to be mindful of our children who are now beginning a new year in school. When I say “our,” I mean our Northside children. To be the Northside family is to be aware of the life stages that exist within our family. One of those vitally important events is the beginning of a school year for our children. Why? Because they are put into the world for seven or more hours per day and there are constant external messages that are being put into their minds and hearts. Those messages are both negative and positive. They are both educational and social. They are both constructive and destructive.
Many of you have offered your time and energy to be a Prayer Pal to many of our children. Thank you for that. When we place the needs of our children in God’s hands, we are relying on His intervention, protection, and guidance for them. They are called by name for specific requests to our Father because we know each one.
If you are not a Prayer Pal this year, then I would like to suggest that you participate in a wider scope of “support” prayer. That just means that you are willing to pray for all our children in our church family. Here are a few examples of prayer needs:
- That God will bring peace to each child’s heart so that they will not fear. Replace the fears with courage and strength. Please give them a sense that Jesus is with them every day. Pray this for the parents as well.
- That God will give wisdom in choosing friends. That they will seek advice from godly, wise people and be drawn to those who love Jesus and are being trained in his ways.
- That God will give them a desire to learn, to be disciplined and persistent in their studies. That they will use their time wisely and to their full potential.
- Pray for those who may struggle in school. Ask God to keep them from discouragement and not give up doing their best. Pray for their teachers to be patient and compassionate. Ask God to give wisdom to their parents for ways of encouraging and motivating.
- Pray for our children to have healthy boundaries on social media, giving them wisdom for good choices for how they communicate. Pray that they will honor God and build others up on their social devices.
- Pray that each child is being filled with God’s Word from home, thus receiving strength for each day.
Make a point to tell parents that you are praying for their children this year. Let’s start living life together!