New pencils, fresh notebooks, sharp crayons, vibrant markers—there is just something special about school supplies. As a kid I loved going to the store with the list of necessary items, selecting just the right folder for each class, finding the perfect mechanical pencil (no wood, please!) and fine-point pens. It still brings a smile to my face. This year, with my oldest starting kindergarten, I got to revisit that joy with him as we found all the items on his list. If you just sent a child back to school, you no doubt did the same.
While some supplies vary from grade to grade and school to school, other things go in everyone’s cart. Whether your child, like mine, is just starting out or beginning his doctorate, there’s one thing every student (and parent for that matter) needs: wisdom. Pencils, pens, index cards, and locker shelves all have their place, but no item is more essential than this one.
Yet, unlike neon gel pens and multi-colored folders, you can’t purchase wisdom during back-to-school sales. Wisdom must be sought, cultivated, and developed in the heart. As much as we’d love to, we can’t download wisdom into the hearts of our kids. Instead, we must kneel at the throne of grace, imploring our wise Father to grant our sons and daughters a heart of wisdom. God assures us that He loves this prayer and delights to answer (James 1:5). Using Proverbs 2 as a guide, let’s cover our kids from head to toe in this type of prayer.
Four Prayers for Wisdom in a New School Year
1. Ears: “Listen closely to wisdom.”
Silence is no longer golden. In the car, in the house, while you’re exercising, working, walking, cooking—no matter what you’re doing, you can listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or music. Most of these apps also have a sleep timer so that you can fall asleep still listening to something. Whether spoken or sung, these messages that constantly bombard our—and our kids’—ears are teaching us.
As we send our children off to school this year, the earbuds may come out, but that doesn’t mean the listening stops. They will be listening to messages from their teachers, coaches, classmates, and friends all day long. Let us pray that they will stop and truly listen—with both their hearts and their ears—to wisdom.
Wise Father, we live in a world that loves noise. The messages of the world blare at us from every direction, every day. My son/daughter can’t get away from these any more than I can. Please give him/her ears to listen to true godly wisdom, turning away from the pseudo-wisdom of the world and embracing heavenly wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, and reasonable. May he/she listen to wise counselors and avoid foolish guidance. Let the words of Your mouth be sweet music to his/her ears, not the deceitful ear-tickling of the world. Your Word is truth. Sanctify him/her in your truth.
2. Voice: “Lift your voice for understanding.”
Prayer requests say a lot about us, don’t they? I’m almost always amused by what my three-year-old wants us to pray for each evening before bed. It’s a direct line to what she’s thinking about. Often, even in the summer, that’s Christmas. So, last night, on a warm August evening, I prayed that Christmas would go well. As we get older, our requests may be a bit less frivolous, but they reveal our hearts no less. We lift our voices for what we want.
As our kids walk into school this year, they’ll lift their voice for something. Straight A’s? A slot on the varsity team? The lead in the school play? First chair in band? These are all worthwhile pursuits and desires but our hearts must not settle there. While I do desire that my children succeed in their pursuits, those things cannot be ultimate.
Father, You know the desires of our hearts before we ask. You see what we love and are often so good to grant it to us. Help neither my child nor I to settle for lesser desires this year. May we lift our voices to you for wisdom, recognizing that as the greatest gift we could receive. Keep us from trivial and frivolous desires; refine us to long for wisdom that comes from You and not from the world.
3. Heart: “Direct your heart to understanding.”
“Just follow your heart.” While this may go well for Disney heroines, the true result of such advice leads to destruction. Our hearts are deceptive, wicked, filthy, and gullible (Jer. 17:9), and following them will lead to inevitable disaster. We all grapple with inclinations of the heart. In some cases, these are God-given passions and pursuing them is not necessarily sinful. However, pursuing them above all else will end in only one place: idolatry. Only the Holy Spirit can incline our hearts away from the devastation of idolatry and to the only safe refuge: Jesus Christ, who is wisdom Himself.
Merciful God, my heart is naturally inclined to earthly and worthless things. I so easily make good things my god. I see the same fleshly tendency in my child. This school year, incline _______________’s heart to You. Give him/her a heart for wisdom, a desire for truth, a thirst for the Living Water, and a hunger for the Bread of Life. None of these will come without Your help, for on our own we are so foolish and selfish. Start this work in my heart, Father, and overflow into the hearts of all who are in our home. Incline our hearts to wisdom.
4. Feet: “Protect the way of Your faithful followers.”
From car seats to cabinet locks, crib rails and stair gates, protecting our children is a big deal. As parents, we take the task seriously, doing our best to keep our precious little ones safe from harm for as long as possible. Perhaps this is why it’s hard to let go when loading them on the bus or walking them to the classroom door. They’re no longer under our protection. And that’s scary.
Scripture tells us, though, that we’re not in charge of our own steps, much less our children’s. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do our best to wisely protect them and avoid unnecessary risk. Rather, we all must realize that their lives are not in our hands, but God’s. He is our Protector, and He’s never off duty (Psalm 121:3). However, we must follow the advice of the psalmist and lift our eyes to Him, from whence comes our help (Psalm 121:1).
We don’t know where our children’s footsteps will take them this school year. Whether our child is a first grader or a freshman, we entrust him or her to our faithful Creator, asking Him to protect their way. Sometimes He protects in amazing, even miraculous ways; however, the way of protection most often is the way of wisdom:
He stores up success for the upright;
He is a shield for those who live with integrity
so that he may guard the paths of justice
and protect the way of his faithful followers. (Proverbs 2:7–8)
Our Shield and Protector, I spend so much time and energy protecting my son/daughter, it’s hard for me to recognize that he/she is ultimately in Your hands. Keep their feet on the path of wisdom—the path of protection—this year as they go to school. May they not heed the call of Folly or the Scoffer, but may they run in the way of understanding and find safety there. As Jesus prayed for His disciples, I do not ask You to take them out of this world, but to keep them from the evil one. Watch over my child, dear Father. You are a shield, sword, sun, and shade. We have no good besides You.
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;
furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and discover the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
(Proverbs 2:1–6)
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