Want to make the most of your school mornings? Enter the book giveaway by today’s blogging guest, Julie Sanders, author of the brand new devotional book “The ABC’s of Praying for Students.”
School mornings are back! Scrolling through the all the “First Day of School Pictures” on Facebook, questions popped into my mind like a surprise quiz. When did taking these pictures become a thing? Definitely sometime after I was a student. And why does school have to start so early in the morning? Kudos to the moms sitting on the curb in the dark with their cups of coffee, waiting for the bus.
Busy school mornings require us to make the most of those first moments of the day. We must decide what matters most and establish priorities for our mornings.
Keep First Things First to Prepare for Your Day
The way we use our mornings will make a difference in our day and in the school year. But, why do mornings matter so much? Here are a few reasons straight from God’s Word:
- Laying our requests before God in the morning gives us the day to expect His answer (Psalm 5:3).
- Mornings bring a new opportunity for joy during times of sadness (Psalm 30:5).
- Starting the morning with reminders of God’s love helps us yield the day to His leadership (Psalm 143:8).
- When we ask for God’s strength in the morning, we are strengthened for the day in times of distress (Isaiah 33:2).
- Experiencing God’s love in the morning fosters joy and gladness all our days (Psalm 90:14).
When we begin our day bathed in God’s truth and presence, the following days and years reap the benefit. Oh course, every moment of our day matters, but a strong start impacts the rest of our day. When we align ourselves with Christ in the morning, we can face whatever might come.
If the homeschool schedule starts to fall apart. If the school office calls about a sick child. If our tearful child encountered a bully. If the drudgery of the day chip away at our peacefulness. If bedtime can’t come soon enough. Starting the day God’s way prepares us for all this and more.
Give Your School Mornings to God
Don’t let the day sweep us away like an early school bus. Instead, let’s plan to make early prayer and praise a part of our morning routine. Otherwise, the day can drain us. We know each day will bring its own trouble, so we can’t afford to avoid the value of the morning.
“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night” (Psalm 92:1-2).
Tomorrow will begin with a morning. It’s an opportunity to start well in God’s presence. If we just went back to school, we need to do more than start our student’s day well. We need to start our own day well. Time in His word and in prayer fills us with His truth, compassion, joy, strength, and guidance for the day.
When we give God the first moments of our day, we open ourselves to all He longs to give us all day long.
A Few good Scriptures to Begin your School Mornings
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8
Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. Isaiah 33:2
This post is a giveaway! To enter for a chance to win a copy of Julie Sanders book “The ABC’s of Praying for Students” tell us in the comments one thing you prioritize each morning. Drawing will be held Friday, August 30th at noon.
A little about Julie and “The ABC’s of Praying for Students”
Julie Sanders has been teaching students of all ages for thirty years. She now works with Live Global to develop indigenous ministry leaders. She loves Back to School season mornings and how they prompt us to pray. Julie is the author of The ABCs of Praying for Students, available at Christen Price Studio. The ABCs of Praying for Students includes 26 biblical devotions arranged alphabetically. The book includes practical ideas for applying God’s truth and Table Talk starters to get your students talking about godly character. The most powerful thing we can do for our students 
will never be found on a school supply list. The ABCs of Praying for Students will help you engage what your child’s education needs most. The great power of your prayers at work.
Something I have prioritized in the mornings the last 3 months is a devo time with my preschoolers. It has brought up great discussions with my 5 year old such as: we cant take anything to heaven with us and we won’t care to, glorifying God with the choices we make each day, satan and hell, and salvation. Love this post as a reminder to fill my own spirit each morning as well as my kids!
Hi Kellie! How wonderful that you do that with your little ones! I love that you are establishing them in God’s Word!You are entered in the giveaway!
Very inspiring and needful, especially in these unpredictable times!Having God in comtol of our days,even our Children in Schools,gives confidence to face whatever the day brings,knowing fully well,that the Master of the Universe has got us covered! Assuring!!!
Thanks for coming by! You are entered in the giveaway!
Yes, “having God in control of our days.” How vital for our children to know we trust Him and pray for them to trust Him too. He really does have us covered!
Hi Kellie, I love the word you use to share what you’ve been doing – “prioritized.” There are so many things pressing in on our day as soon as we’re up, even in the preschool years. It sounds like you’ve made a really powerful choice to use some of that ripe morning time to talk about things that matter most and truly give life! Your children are blessed, Kellie, to have a mama who is intentional about turning their hearts towards truth in their earliest years! I’m so glad the post encouraged you. You will be glad for all of the time you spent well in these all important early years!
My children are now grown and have children of their own. The grandchildren know that I pray for them, for their friends and teachers, for wise decisions and a Godly heart. I want to share that when I taught school, at a public school, (44 years) I would draw a name and pray for that student especially that day. That certainly made a difference in how I saw the student and how I was able to help that student.
Aldena, thank you for sharing that! What a blessing for those children to have their teacher pray for them! You are entered in the drawing!
That’s powerful Aldena! THANK YOU for your many years of teaching and caring for students. That’s amazing. I wonder how often you were the only one praying that individual child on the day you drew their name? You were doing life-changing ministry in those young lives, and now your grandchildren are so blessed to have you upholding them in prayer. I love hearing testimonies like yours of a lifetime of doing the powerful work of prayer. Thank you for sharing and may your heritage of prayer sow seeds that grow into new prayer warriors!
My daughter is a school teacher and I begin each morning in prayer for her, her students, her school. I also pray for my grandchildren who are in school. Also, for the last three years I have mentored 3 teen girls (two who begin college today). We have our phones set for 6:50 am and pray for each other every day. It is such a privilege and joy to pray for these and others we well.
Hi Carol! What an amazing ministry for you! Keep praying! You are entered in the drawing.
What a beautiful testimony of being intentional about teaching the next generations and walking alongside them in growing habits of prayer. Thank you for that example Carol. My daughter is also a school teacher, and I love knowing I can influence the lives of her students and her life through my prayers for them. You are doing a real ministry of upholding others in prayer. How blessed they are!
I’m a teacher…8th grade. I could not start the day with my Bible readings from “Truth for Life”. The I count my blessings and ask for guidance!
Hi Becky! Thanks for coming by! Your students are blessed to have a teacher that prays. You are entered in the giveaway!
I’m not cheating…I’ve just realized I entered my email incorrectly! First day of school…I’m tired! As a teacher, every morning starts with scripture readings from “ Truth for Life”… then a prayer of thanksgiving…then humbly asking for strength and awareness in my classroom…
Ha!! No problem! Thanks for fixing it!
Hi Becky,
I love that your “teacher heart” wants to be sure your email is CORRECT and you aren’t CHEATING! ;). I love your teacher’s heart for truth. Really, that’s beautiful! I also hope your first day of school was a sweet beginning and that God will use your teaching and your care for your students in powerful ways this year! My prayer is that educators like you will be blessed by The ABCs of Praying for Students. You are doing a work that will influence those lives for a lifetime! It’s an awesome, holy task. Happy new school year of influence to you!
My granddaughter comes to my house every morning before school. She is already having a bad time at school. She has anywhere from 3 to 5 hours of homework a night! So, we have been having devotions with breakfast. My Princess Warrior. Hopefully teaching her that the battle is the Lord’s and how she can fully rely on Him. Praying for her and all my other grandkids are a priority of mine.
Hi Cathy! God bless your grandmother heart! You are building a spiritual legacy for her! You are entered in the drawing!
Oh Cathy, Kathy H is right! What a spiritual legacy you’re building, learning to face the hard things with God’s help and strength. God is our refuge and strength and our help in trouble. It sounds like sacred things are happening around your breakfast table! May God bless you for your ministry to your grand-girl’s heart and to your other grands, and may He help your Princess Warrior know He delights in her!
Something I prioritize in the mornings is my time with the Lord. But as school begins, I intent to add to it morning prayer with my son. We did this all last year on the way to school. I first ask him what he wants to thank God for, and then anything else he wants to pray about. This helped put our days on course, especially if we had already had a rough morning getting to the car!
I really like the way you describe that power of your prayers with your son each morning: “put our days on course.”
Yes. Exactly what prayer has the power to do in the morning! School schedules tend to upset our balance, but your days will be blessed as the two of you lift up reasons for thanksgiving and requests for help. May your school year be covered in prayer from your car to the classroom and back home again!