- Sep 29, 2021

more everyday prayers

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and pray for BCS/WCA! Lord willing, I plan to publish a new blog post weekly on Wednesdays throughout the school year. Feel free to subscribe (at the bottom of this page) if you'd like to be notified each time a new blog post has been published. We also have a prayer team that is always open for new pray-ers to join. If you'd like to learn more, just email me at cwarner@alliancechristian.org.

Earlier this month I shared a handful of "everyday prayers" on the blog. The idea was that these written prayers could be prayed by anyone in our community and could help give us words to cover various parts of our regular, ordinary lives during the school year. Today I'm sharing a few more of these prayers, hoping again that they will be a blessing to you and can be helpful in enriching your times of prayer, whatever they may look like.

The first is a prayer for chapel. Students on both campuses meet for chapel on Fridays, and generally these gatherings include a time of singing and a message from a speaker. Our theme for this year, "We are chosen," has been and will continue to be a key part of the teaching in this year's chapels.

The second is a prayer for when a friend is struggling. All of us know someone who is struggling, and all of us have times when we struggle. Maybe this prayer can help us when we want to pray for someone who is struggling but don't know what to say.

The final one in this collection is a prayer for homecoming. Both BCS and WCA will have their annual homecoming celebrations coming up on October 8 and 9. Would you pray along with us, that these days would be what God intends for them to be?

Pray with me...

A Prayer for Chapel

Dear Father,

You are worthy to be praised in private and as a group. Thank you so much that we can meet together to worship You in song and through Your Word.

Father, please give our students anticipation about coming to chapel to be a blessing to their classmates and teachers and to also be blessed as they hear and learn.

Thank you that we are chosen! Please help each student and staff member understand this more deeply as we come together each time. Help us to live as Your chosen children to give glory to You and lift each other up.

We give You praise for this wonderful hope through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for When a Friend is Struggling

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

Lord, sometimes I am the struggler and sometimes I am the friend who is helping the struggler. I have been both places. Let me never forget what it is to struggle with pain and disappointment. Keep my heart tender so that when my friend is struggling, I can feel it.

Lord, sometimes I need eyes opened to see the hurt in a friend. And then sometimes I need a caring loving heart to connect to my eyes so that I care enough to fully love and embrace my hurting friend. Help me with both my eyes being open to see and my heart being open to give the love that you have lavished on me.

Lord, let me not grow weary in doing good. Sometimes the weight of my own life seems like more than I can bear. Some of my friends struggle more and some less. May my friends who struggle less not find me making too little of their struggle and may my friends who struggle much find equally abundant amounts of compassion in me.

Lord, no one loves at all times like you. You will never leave us or forsake us. You are the one who sticks much closer than a brother because you’re so much more than a brother. Jesus give me a burning desire to love all my friends. Give me the grace to do the next thing. How do I best come alongside of my hurting friends? Is it a lunch, a card, a phone call, a face-to-face conversation, or an unexpected unasked-for gift? Show us the way and lead us.

We pray in the name of our compassionate Savior Jesus.

A Prayer for Homecoming

Heavenly Father, we lift up our homecoming celebrations to You.

You are the Source of life, and You have created life with built in rhythms for celebrating.

Ultimately, You are the greatest reason we have to celebrate!

Thank You for the beautiful gift of celebration and for this opportunity to celebrate together.

As we anticipate homecoming day, may Your joy be our strength.

We pray that all who are working on preparations would do so with a spirit of unity.

We pray for wisdom to be poured out generously on all who are planning for this event.

We pray for You to bring together all who would be blessed by being a part of homecoming.

Thank You for Your promise to go before us and be with us each step of the way.

As we celebrate on homecoming day, may we be aware of Your presence.

We pray for all who participate in our homecoming festivities to be filled with joy, from the youngest to the oldest.

We pray for good connections to be made, both with new friends and old friends.

We pray that all who are able to give would do so with cheerful hearts.

We pray that for all who are “coming home” to BCS or WCA, they would feel welcomed and honored.

We pray that throughout this event, Your Spirit would be evident to all. May there be an abundance of laughter and kindness and the fruit of Your Spirit.

Thank You for the ways You are at work within us, among us and through us.

Thank You for the many people who will be giving of their time, energy and resources throughout this day.

Thank You for the blessings of sharing life together as part of Your family.

As homecoming ends, may we look back on it with gratitude.

We pray for Your vision to help us see the good things You have done.

We pray that we might share with one another and encourage each other with stories of Your goodness and faithfulness.

We pray that You would bless each person who received anything from our homecoming celebrations and let these gifts go on to continue blessing many others and giving You glory.

We pray that we might learn from any mistakes that were made, that You would generously pour out Your grace and help us to share it with each other as we have opportunity.

Thank You for being a faithful God, from generation to generation.

Thank You for holding all of us in Your hands and for ordaining all the days of our lives before one of them came to be.

May every part of this year’s homecoming day - before, during and after - be what You want it to be. May Your will be done, Your Kingdom come, on earth and on our campuses as it is in heaven. Yours is the Kingdom, and the glory and the power forever. Amen.

As we continue forward this year, I would love to continue to add more prayers to these "school year liturgies". If you ever feel inspired to write one and share it with me, you're welcome to do so! Special thanks to Mary Klase (prayer for chapel) and Rick Knarr (prayer for a friend who is struggling) for their contributions to this project.