A Prayer for Challenging Students

God of love, who is Love Himself,

Please pour Your love on me.

I am weak, needy, and imperfect, and I need You to teach me how to love as You love.

Remind me that I am undeserving of your grace to me, yet You freely give it anyways.

Remind me that You call me Your child even when I turn my back on You.

Remind me that when I fail You give me another chance.

Help me to show that kind of love to my students.

Father, I am especially struggling to love ____. I forget so quickly that they are Your precious child. You created them, with all of their unique facets and particular quirks. They are broken by sin and this broken world, but they were created by You and are therefore very good.

Give me eyes to see Your fingerprints on ____ today. Show me the unique aspects of your creativity that they bring out because of who they are. I ask for the strength to see them as You see them, even if it’s only for brief moments. Convince me, deep in my being, that they are precious and honoured in Your sight.

I ask for wisdom as I interact with ____ today. Help me to know what to say and what not to say. Show me the best way to reach their heart. Give me a tangible way to connect with them to remind us both that we are on the same team.

I ask for patience beyond what I have in myself. I ask for grace to keep engaging with their struggles. And most of all, I pray for hope in the moments when I want to despair.

I pray that ____ would be secure in Your love for them today. If they are coming to me bearing the brunt of negative circumstances they cannot control, I pray that You would work Your redemption. If they are coming to me from a place of deep hurt, I pray that You would work Your healing. If they are coming to me with a heart that is rebellious and hard, I pray that You would do Your work of conviction.

Help me to do what I can to help them and leave the rest in Your capable hands.

You love ____. They are created in Your image, redeemed by Your sacrifice, and called by Your name. You love them with an everlasting love and unfailing kindness. You take great delight in them, and You rejoice over them with singing. Nothing can separate them from Your love for them. You created their inmost being, and You knit them together in their mother’s womb. They are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Help me to see them like this.

Amen.

Photo by Amaury Gutierrez on Unsplash