The Effective, Fervent Prayer of a Parent and a Teacher

I hope you pray for your children. The Scriptures remind us that “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man [or woman] avails much” (James 5:16). Without God working in us and through our efforts, our work to educate our children is missing a vital piece. Regents teachers pray for and with their students daily. This is a crucial part of their ministry to families.

What do you pray for your children? I hope your prayers are for something more than mere happiness or success. I hope your prayers are for your children’s joy, character, vocation, and growth in Christ.

Regents Academy chaplain, Pastor Randy Booth, prayed the following prayer of dedication for graduates in May 2010:

O wise and loving heavenly Father, we rejoice today at the sight of these young men and women that you have called unto Yourself.

You formed them in their mother’s wombs and have numbered their days.

We pray that You would now direct their steps and make their path straight.

Grant them the wisdom of Christian humility and the grace of Christian charity.

Protect them from temptation and from those who would do them harm.

Establish them in righteousness, equip them for service, prosper their way, and grant them Your peace.

May it be obvious to all who know these young men and women that they are building their lives upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ and His word.

Fill them with Your Spirit;

Give them a hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Give them true faith,

True repentance from sin.

True wisdom.

True courage to stand for what is right and against what is wrong.

For “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:30-31).

We ask Your blessing now in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Amen.

May I suggest that these are excellent prayers for you to pray for your own children and for all the students of Regents Academy? I long for these spiritual realities to be present in the students of Regents Academy.

Please, I ask of you: join me in praying that God would cause our children to “mount up with wings like eagles.” These prayers are an essential component of our educational task.