My Prayer for the 2013 Graduates

Heavenly Father,

We come to you on behalf of the graduates, their families, and our future. We sense the significance of these moments and so we quiet ourselves. We pause and we sit before you. We know the road ahead winds away, but we also know you walk ahead of us. We know you will guide us and provide for us all. So we pray to you in faith.

For the parents, we pray.

These parents have watched their children grow. They have rocked them in the late watches of the night. They have dared to hope for them since these students were little babies. They have chauffeured them to practices and games and recitals and youth group and countless events. They have cried as their children cried. They have laughed with them and snuggled them. They have borne their burdens and celebrated their victories. It has all been so wonderful and so fast. We pray these parents would now have hearts of wisdom to guide these students into this next stage of life. We pray they would have hearts of faith to release these young adults into your sovereign care. And we pray they would have hearts of joy as they watch their children soar.

For the students, we pray.

How we have loved them! How we have cherished their presence in our church. They have filled the halls of this church with smiles and giggles. They have swarmed the playgrounds and now overflowed the Hub. They are a sign of your blessing and grace. It has been our deep joy to see and help them grow in wisdom and stature. And now, whether they stay in town or travel far, there is a sense in which we send them out. They graduate to a new season of life. Father, go with them. Guide them, and establish their every step. Protect their hearts in purity. Surround them with Christian witness. Fill them with a knowledge of your love. Be their bright light on dark nights. Be their hope when sin entangles them. Be their confidence when failure greets them. Be their only horizon. Bless them and keep them. Make your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them. Turn your face toward them, and give them peace, both now and forevermore.

For the church, we pray.

May we remember these students in prayer. May the transition of this generation stir us to tell the next generation about your mighty deeds, about your great Gospel. May we work to train the next generations. May we show love and hospitality to these spiritual travelers just behind us. May we turn back to help these young ones. May greet these little ones in your name. And may our church always be filled with the likes of these.

Amen.