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We’ve been praying for your student this summer, and now, in these final weeks before the fall semester begins, we invite you to join us.

This guide features 30 days of prayer for your student. It will take you from August 8 until September 6: the final day of the first week of classes in the Fall 2024 semester. These short prayers are intended to help you pray thoughtfully and intentionally for your student in their preparation, throughout orientation and into their first few days of life at 51����.

This year, 51����’s chapel series will work through 1 & 2 Corinthians. In these two powerful books of Scripture, Paul exhorts the Corinthian church to live lives that are holy and set apart from a sinful culture, to be united with one another, to be led by love and to rely on God for strength and provision in the midst of their weakness. All of these things are fitting prayers for your student as they begin at 51����! We’ve tied in key verses from 1 & 2 Corinthians throughout this prayer guide to help you meditate on Scripture as you pray.

We are so thankful that your student will be at 51���� this fall. We hope you’ll join 51���� staff, faculty and hundreds of fellow incoming 51���� parents as we pray for our incoming Fall 2024 class.

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August 8

Father, my student is a gift from your hand, whose hand has been on them their whole life. Trust has ever been my need, and now as I prepare to send them out, I trust you still: to bring to their side friends to walk with them; to bring to their minds truth to nourish them; and to bring to their hearts your love, that they would be loved into loving others. May they ever seek You, and may they know that as they do, You will lead them by the right road, though some days they may see it only dimly. Shepherd, be their Shepherd. Spirit be their Guide. Father, be their Abba. I bless you for being their God, knowing I am not. Amen.

August 9

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Cor. 1:18

Father, as my student prepares to begin at 51����, would you make yourself known to them. In this pivotal moment in their life, as they have so many things on their mind and so many voices vying for their attention, fix their eyes on you and show them the wisdom and power of the cross. Amen.

August 10

Lord, I pray for unity within our family this month. As we prepare for this transition to 51����, would you unite us in love for each other. Amen.

August 11

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20

Lord, would you help my student to see that they do not belong to themself but to you. Help me to see this too — that my child does not belong to me but to you. Father, as they begin at 51����, would my student honor you with their body, with their mind and with all of who they are. Amen.

August 12

Father, I know that no request is too small for you. As my student does the small things this month — shopping, packing, seeing friends, getting books, crossing off things on a list — I pray that you would be in all of it. God, we trust that you are a good God who gives good gifts to His children. Give both my student and me peace in the midst of worry. Amen.

August 13

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” 1 Cor. 10:14

Lord, it is so easy to compare, to covet and to idolize. In these first few months as my student begins at 51����, I pray that you would help them to flee from idolatry. Before they arrive, keep them from idolizing their college experience. In the first few weeks and months of 51����, keep them from comparing their experience to others. Lord, I pray for contentment for my student. Keep their eyes fixed on you in this season. Amen.

August 14

“Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.“ 1 Cor. 10:24

Father, I know that college will be a time where my student meets so many new people. I pray that you would prepare their heart now to seek the good of those around them in classes, in their living space, in the cafeteria, in clubs and more. And Lord, would you bring classmates and professors who are seeking the good of my student as well. Amen.

August 15

Lord, I pray for my student as they adjust to a new schedule at 51����. I pray that you would grant them the time in this schedule that they need to complete their work well. Help them balance new friendships and relationships with responsibilities and give them the space they need to rest. God, grant my student the courage to say “yes” to new opportunities and to take risks, and grant them the wisdom and tact to say “no” when they ought to. Amen.

August 16

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31

Father, I pray that my student’s studies would glorify you. May their speech glorify you. May their friendships glorify you. May their eating and drinking glorify you. May they live a life that glorifies you. As I support my student, help me to glorify you. Amen.

August 17

Father, I pray that you would give my student clarity as they plan for the future. I know that your will and purpose will prevail above any plans that they make, so I pray that they would be attentive to your calling in their life as they make plans for their career and for the type of life they desire to lead. Amen.

August 18

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Cor. 12:12

Lord, I pray for unity at 51���� this fall. In classrooms, in residence halls, on sports teams, in student government, in group projects, in chapel services, I pray that the student body of 51���� would be united as one body in Christ. Amen.

August 19

Father, I pray for friends for my student. I pray that 51���� would be a community where they can grow with other students who deeply care for them. Amen.

August 20

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Cor. 13:4-6

Father, I pray that you would make this description of love true of my student. Would you tenderly lead them into love that is patient with and kind to others. Give them a love for others that is not envious, boastful, arrogant or rude. Father, put mentors and friends in my student’s life to demonstrate a love that is self-sacrificial, not irritable or resentful. I pray that you would give them a heart that rejoices with the truth. Amen.

August 21

&�Բ�����;“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1 Cor. 13:7-8

Lord, as my student enters college, give me a love for them that loves like you do: a love that never ends. Amen.

August 22

Father, I pray that you would guide my student to be involved in a local church. Lord, would you make this a place that preaches your Word, that serves others like Jesus, and that welcomes my student wholeheartedly. Amen.

August 23

Lord, I pray for fruitful relationships with professors for my student. Would you give them professors who care for them academically, personally and spiritually and who have a heart for mentorship. Amen.

August 24

“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” 1 Cor. 14:20

Father, as my student is growing in their independence and becoming an adult during their college years, I pray that you would grant them godly maturity. Lead them not into temptation and keep them from evil. I pray that they would grow in wisdom and in favor with you and with those around them. Amen.

August 25

Lord, as my relationship with my student changes, give me grace, patience and discernment. Lord, I want to be a loving parent to my student as they enter adulthood. I pray that you would guide me as I do that. Amen.

August 26

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Cor. 15:58

Lord, would you bless the work that my student does in their first year at 51����. Would they do their work for you, knowing that work done for you and your kingdom is not done in vain. Amen.

August 27

Father, prepare my heart well for this transition. You know how much I love my student. Help me to be a blessing to them as they begin at 51����. Amen.

August 28

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” 2 Cor. 2:15

Lord, I pray for friends and mentors around my student who would be the aroma of Christ to them. I pray that 51����’s campus would be filled with worship of you this year and that 51����’s campus culture would be one of love and forgiveness, a pleasing aroma to you. Amen.

August 29

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Cor. 3:17

Lord, I pray that your Spirit would be ever present on 51����’s campus this year. Would my student be attentive to your Spirit, watching and listening. Lord, guide them by your Spirit I pray. Amen.

August 30

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor 5:7

Lord, on this first day of New Student Orientation, help me to walk by faith. I don’t know what lies ahead for my student, but I know they are held in your hands. Keep them in your hands, Lord, and help me to walk by faith, trusting in your goodness. Amen.

August 31

Father, on this second day of New Student Orientation, I pray for peace for my student. In the excitement, the joy, the nervousness, and even when they feel overwhelmed, would you grant them a peace and knowledge that you have placed them right where they ought to be. Amen.

September 1

Lord, I pray that my student’s journey at 51���� would ultimately be one where they grow a deeper love for you. Reveal your beauty to them, Lord, and make it their heart’s desire to seek your kingdom and your righteousness. Amen.

September 2

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Cor. 9:6

Father, I pray that you would guide my student toward sowing bountifully in these college years. As they try new things, meet new people, take risks in relationships, meet with professors and invest in the 51���� community, would you bless them and allow them reap good things. Amen.

September 3

Father, be with my student on this first day of classes. I pray that you would quiet any feelings of nervousness and inadequacy. I pray that you would put classmates around them who would make them feel included and professors who would challenge them and care for them. Father, bless their learning. Amen.

September 4

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 2 Cor. 10:17

Lord, give my student humility in this new season. Show them their need for you so that in everything they accomplish they boast in you. Amen.

September 5

Lord, thank you for the blessings you have already given my student in this first week of classes. I praise you for learning, for community, and for new relationships. Thank you Father for these gifts from your hand. Amen.

September 6

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Cor. 12:9

Father, I know that when we are weak, you are strong. I pray that you would help my student see this. When they feel weak this semester, help them to rely on you for strength. Lord, when I feel weak, at a loss and out of control, I pray that your power and grace would be made known in me. Thank you for the sufficiency of your grace for us. Bless us, in this first semester Father. Keep my student in your care. Amen.