Prayer For Money To Support My Children

A Prayer for Our Children’s Teachers

It’s that magical time of year again. Shopping carts are filled with endless reams of paper, composition books, glue sticks, and pencils. Big yellow buses are cruising the neighborhood during this season when sneakers are still clean and backpack zippers actually work.

Once again, we send our kiddos out into the great wide world to learn and grow. We’ve spent the summer strengthening their spiritual and familial roots and having all manner of togetherness and now it’s time to let them stretch their wings.

Along with the growing and stretching our kids will face, we moms have to stretch a bit, too.

We are given a chance to trust in God and share the responsibility of shaping the minds and hearts of our greatest treasures with people we may or may not know personally.

Sounds a bit daunting, doesn’t it? Even for us “experienced” mamas (those of us who’ve boarded the bus a time or two, you might say), new school years bring new challenges. And entrusting our children to veritable strangers isn’t the least on the list.

New adults in their lives

Classroom teachers, catechists, librarians, coaches, music directors, dance teachers, and scout leaders. School administrators, cafeteria workers, nurses, crossing guards, and maintenance staff.

Day care providers, extended day teachers, and club moderators. These are just some of the people our children will interact with during their school year.

Some of them we select, but many are already part of their school community.

How can we best support the men and women who dedicate so much of their time and talents to our precious children?

The answer is, fellow mamas, we pray.

Love the children first

Way back, many moons and three children ago, I was a fourth-grade classroom teacher at a small Catholic school in Tucson. For the four and a half years I taught there, I had a small card with my favorite quote from Saint Mother Theodore Guerin that I kept displayed right by my plan book:

Love the children first, and then teach them.

I really think that is the ultimate, possibly unspoken, goal of all of these various teachers our kids will encounter. Rare (and probably seriously confused) is the person who gets into any form of teaching or coaching or administration for the glory of it. No, they teach because they have a passion for their subject matter, want to contribute to society, and basically love children!

Let’s pray that their sights remain true to that ultimate goal for the good of our kids and to the glory of God!

As numerous as the stars in the sky

Let’s switch perspective for a quick second, shall we? We’ve been thinking of the many kinds of teachers that will be influencing our kids this school year, but we might also want to consider just how many different kinds of kids these awesome human beings will be responsible for!

Just as God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 26:4), He could make the same promise to teachers. He will give them students as numerous as the crayons at the office supply store and they’ll be every bit as varied.

Teachers want to do their very best for each and every child. They desire to meet every need, fill every gap, and boost every ego. What one child lacks, another has in aces.

Some children are open while others may more slow to warm up.

Let’s pray that God will open the hearts of all teachers this year; that they will see not only the sweet faces of our kids, but the Light of Christ that burns inside each of them. May they recognize that light and use it as a guide to provide for their individual needs as well as for those of the group as a whole.

A mother’s prayer for teachers

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the gift of good teachers. Thank You for men and women willing to take on the responsibility of shaping the next generation of thinkers and doers.

As the school year starts, grant them strength and courage to face what lies ahead.

Spark their imaginations with ways to reach even the most difficult learner.

When the days are long and the challenges seem too many, grant them peace.

When things go smoothly, let them see Your guiding hand and give You thanks.

When they’re spending their money to make my child’s learning environment more successful and enjoyable, grant them treasures in Heaven.

Please, Lord, give them the grace they need to see You in every preschooler, grade schooler and high-schooler.

Help them respond to the individual needs of each child to the best of their ability.

Protect them from harm, but make them brave and knowledgeable in times of crisis.

May they find strength for the journey in each smile, hug, high five, and newly learned skill.

I know that their job is often a thankless and incredibly demanding one. Help me to support them the best that I can so that my child will know how much I value his/her education and the hard work of others.

And at the end of each day, may they find rest and replenishment to rise and do it all again tomorrow.

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, pray for them.

Saint Jean Baptist de la Salle, patron of teachers, pray for them.

In Our Lord Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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Written by Beth Williby. Find out more about her here.

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Источник: //blessedisshe.net/the-blog/a-prayer-for-our-childrens-teachers/

A Back to School Prayer for our Kids

Sometimes I get frustrated that the Bible gives us such little explicit instruction on the task of raising children.

 Honestly, there are few things that matter more than raising up the next generation to love the Lord.  I have been a little weepy at the thought of my firstborn starting first grade this week.

 His love for life and zeal for God is amazing (and encourages me daily), but there is still so much I feel we need to teach him.

As I was pondering all of this over the weekend, I began thinking about Jesus and how Mary must have felt when he was growing up.

 Obviously Jesus was the perfect Son of God and would never sin even in his youth…but I find comfort in knowing that even so, Mary and Joseph probably discussed the best ways to bring him up just my husband and I do about our very imperfect children.

 The Bible tell us so little about Jesus’s childhood.   But there is one tiny verse that encompasses the monumental years of his youth that I have been dwelling on:

As school begins once again, this is the verse I am praying for my children, specifically for my oldest.  It includes three of the most important aspects of a child’s life:  mind, body, and spirit.  Each of these aspects come with their own strengths and weaknesses, with obstacles and challenges to overcome in every facet of life.

In Wisdom

Lord, I pray that you will allow Caleb to grow in wisdom this year.  I pray that he will learn everything he is expected to know academically.  I pray that he will be successful in his studies and that he will be a diligent worker in what is asked of him.  Most of all, Lord, I pray that you would allow Him to grow in YOUR wisdom.

 Help him to learn more about your character through his interactions with others.  Help the scriptures and stories we have been sharing with him from your Word to be a lamp to his feet and a light to his path.  Give us, his parents, the wisdom to help him discern between right and wrong in the situations he is faced with this year.

 Above all else, help him learn to love You more.

In Stature

Lord, I thank you for the lives of our children.  I thank you that they are healthy.  I pray that you will protect their bodies and help them to continue to grow strong.  Protect them from illness and harm, Lord.

As school begins, I pray that Caleb will know that he is created in your image.  I pray that he will know that is “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

 Protect his heart and help him to rest in the truth that he is a priceless gift to us and, most importantly, to You…so much so that you sent your son for him.

In Favor with God and Man

Lord, I pray that you would allow Caleb to be a light for you.  I pray that he would be obedient to his teachers and kind to his classmates.  I pray that he will show kindness and compassion to everyone, but especially those who are treated poorly by others.  Give him the strength to stand up for the outcasts.

 I pray that he will have integrity to do the right thing even when no one is looking.  Help him to surround himself with people who will help him grow closer to you.  I pray that he will be both a leader and a follower– a follower of yours but a leader for his peers.  Help his words and actions to be pleasing to you.

All this I ask in the name of your son Jesus.  Amen.

No matter whether your child will be attending public school, private school, or will be homeschooled, I think this prayer is all-encompassing for what we desire for our kids.

 And I fully realize I am asking God for a lot…I certainly don’t expect my children to be perfect.  In fact, I need to pray much of this same prayer for myself.

 But this is what I most desire for the lives of my children.

When we place the well being of our children in God’s very capable hands through prayer, we are surrendering control to Him.  I’m not sure there is anything else as equally scary, freeing, and comforting as this.  All I know is that He is certainly more capable than I am!

PS- I thought I would create a printable scripture card for those of us who wish to consistently pray this prayer for our kids throughout the year.  Stick it on your bathroom mirror or in the visor on your car…any place that you will see it regularly.  There are 4 identical cards on a page…you can print one for yourself and give the others to friends/neighbors if you would .

Click on the image below to access the printable file:

Is your child heading off to school soon?  What else would you add to this prayer?  

Источник: //www.icanteachmychild.com/a-back-to-school-prayer-for-our-kids/