Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for another year to school my children. Thank you for the opportunity to take Your instruction to train them up in the way they should go beyond their physical and emotional needs and being able to equip my children with an education that is based on Your Word and the godly values that we uphold in our home. Thank you that I do not have to shoulder this amazing responsibility by myself, but that I can be assured that You will be with me every step of the way, giving me wisdom as I teach each day. Thank You for being the perfect Teacher and showing me how to teach by Your example all throughout Scripture.

I pray for grace to accept every challenge that I may face this year. Please help me to remember that I am not only helping to grow my children’s minds, but more importantly, I am helping to grow character in each of their lives. Help me to keep in mind that You are present in everything, and that no matter what the subject, I can always point my children toward You.

I ask for wisdom to know when to push my children farther and to know when it’s time to put the books away. I ask for patience during those times when I have to explain something over and over again or when my children don’t want to do their work. You have said in Your Word that Your joy is my strength, so I ask for a measure of Your joy that would be so abundant that it overflows from me and effects those around me. I pray that our home would be filled with peace and not chaos or disorder.

I ask that you give each one of my children a love for knowledge and a desire to expand their minds through learning. Help me to tailor their school to their individual needs and bents that You have blessed them with. Help me to try not to fit them into some kind of mold of my own design, but to remember that You are molding them into exactly who You want them to be.

Please give me eyes to see when I need to correct my own faults instead of trying to always correct my children. Give me humility to admit my sin and to ask forgiveness of them when needed. Remind me that when I face a challenge, the first thing that I need to do is to get on my knees and ask You for help.

Thank you for the flexibility that allows us to take amazing field trips and learn things first-hand by traveling to different places around us. Help me to make the most of every opportunity to teach my kids about the world that You have created for us to live in.

Thank You for making each one of my kids different from the others. Thank You for their unique personalities and the things that make them special. Thank You for blessing me with the gift of children. I ask You to bless all of us not just with teachable minds, but with teachable hearts as well. Help us to pursue excellence in all that we do. Please bless our school year and help us to honor You in all that we do.

AMEN