Prayer for School
If you are a student, then on this page you'll find Thomas Aquinas's famous students prayer, and on this page are a series of prayers and resources for school graduation ceremonies. Finally, if you are currently sitting exams, then here you will find prayers and bible verses to help deal with the nerves and anxiety associated with tests!
resources on this page
Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.
(Francis Xavier, 1506 -1552)
School Assembly Prayer
"Cheeky Monkey TV" is a fun way of engaging children with praying to God. In this episode (3.20min) we learn about how amazing a school assembly is:-
School Prayer
A Short School Prayer
Almighty God
We give you our school.
We give you all the teachers and staff who work here,
We give you all the children who study here.
We pray our school would be place of great discovery, adventure and creativity.
May it be a place where we love to learn and where we learn to love,
A place where every one is respected and all are deeply valued.
We ask all this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(A modern prayer from www.lords-prayer-words.com)
Five Creative Ideas for School Prayer
(Teaching children to pray to God)Silence
Silence in the 21st century is a rare occurrence. So too is stillness - when we are not checking our phones, watching TV or browsing the web. Our lives are crammed with information, emails and news. Actually asking your pupils to close their eyes and not do anything for a moment may be a novel experience! But this may also be a very valuable time for them. Sometimes silence needs to be guided so that minds do not wander:-• (Teacher) " I want you to think for a moment about something that you are anxious about and give this thought to God" (wait a while)
• "Now think about somebody else in this classroom and what they may be worried about. Give these concerns to God and pray for them in your heart" (wait a while)
• "Take the last few moments ¤0[Ïto thank God for something. This could be something you have learned today, or an interest that you have, or anything else that comes to mind" (wait a while).
• Then conclude with a short prayer, which could be spontaneous or a set prayer such as such as the "Glory Be".
Prayers which students/children can say
Instead of the whole class reciting a traditional prayer, consider asking just a few children to pray the prayer out loud, and split it into sections so that they take turns in reading it line by line. For example, the short version of the "Serenity Prayer" could be done this way (in this example using three children):-• (Student 1)"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change"
• (Student 2) "Courage to change the things I can"
• (Student 3) "And wisdom to know the difference."
• The rest of the serenity prayer can be prayed in the same manner.
You could also encourage the children to write their own short prayers (e.g. one or two lines) and pray them together in this way.
Prayer for Young People
an inspiring prayer suitable for showing with teenagers in high school or in a church youth meeting:-
Spontaneous Prayers
Praying spontaneously (rather than reading a set prayer) takes a little more courage in front of students or a classroom of thirty teenagers! E.g. "what happens if I dry up and can't think of anything next?" etc. However, praying this way shows pupils that prayer is about a real, living relationship with God, not just something that is a ritual to be read and "gone through".• If you are new to this kind of thing, consider writing down your own short prayer that you can read out. Then have this at hand as a back-up. You can always use some or all of this should you find spontaneous prayer too difficult to begin with.
Song
This approach is more appropriate for elementary or junior school children. Since many children's worship songs are prayers set to music, singing a song together at the end of class is a fun way to pray and let off steam! Also consider action songs using just the upper body (if you want the children to remain seated) and full body action songs (if you are feeling a bit more adventurous!) A good place to start for children's worship songs is the work of Ishmael, a UK based writer of Christian songs for children.School Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for looking after our school.
Thank you that you love each and everyone of us here.
Help us to learn, play and share together,
So that the wonderful world you have made
Becomes more beautiful everyday.
Amen.
(a modern school prayer from www.lords-prayer-words.com)
More prayers for school aged children...
here are links to some more resources on prayer