A Night at City Life Church

Nicole Reginelli, Prayer Director at City Life Church in San Francisco, recently shared what happened at the Back-to-School Prayer Night her church hosted. "It was so powerful," she said.

The details of that evening show why.

First, the junior high and high school students were called forward, commissioned, and prayed over as they prepared to return to their schools.

Then those older students gathered around the elementary-age children and prayed over them.

Next, the teachers, school staff, coaches, and after-care workers were called forward. This time, all the children and young people gathered around and prayed over them, with the pastoral team coming alongside the students as they prayed.

And the praying didn't stop there.

The church had created interactive prayer stations where the children could pray specifically and by name for their friends, their teachers, and their schools—the very people and places they would encounter when they returned to school.

Covered in Prayer, Empowered to Pray

There was something important happening in all of this.

The church was covering its children and young people in prayer—but at the same time, those children and young people were being empowered to pray.

"It was beautiful to see even the elementary school children praying for their teachers and schools. There is no junior Holy Spirit." Nicole Reginelli

They weren't simply being sent back to school with the prayers of their church behind them. They were learning to pray for their friends, their teachers, and their schools—and to understand the mission field God had called them into.

That is what stands out about what happened at City Life.

The church prayed for the next generation.
And the next generation was equipped and empowered to pray.

And your church can do the same.

It Doesn't Have to Be an Entire Night

City Life Church devoted an hour and a half to their Back-to-School Prayer Night. But churches don't have to create a separate event to do this.

15 Minutes on a Sunday

Take a portion of your regular Sunday service.

All-Family Worship

Make it part of an all-family worship service before dismissing the children.

Youth-Group Gathering

Incorporate it into a gathering you already hold.

Back-to-School Sunday

Hold a special service built around the new school year.

An Evening of Prayer

Devote an entire evening to prayer, as City Life did.

Nicole's advice was practical: make it part of the rhythm of your church—something that is already happening and people are already coming to.

Whether you have 15 minutes or an hour and a half,
you can adapt the same basic model.

A Simple Back-to-School Prayer Format

1

Commission and pray over your junior high and high school students.

Call them forward and pray over them as they return to their campuses.

2

Have the older students pray over the younger children.

Let your junior high and high school students gather around the elementary-age children and pray for them.

3

Let the students pray for the adults who serve them.

Call forward teachers, school staff, coaches, after-care workers, and others who work with students. Invite the children and young people to pray over them, with pastors and leaders coming alongside to support them.

4

Create prayer stations for your children and young people.

Give them opportunities to pray by name for their friends who don't know the Lord, their teachers, and their schools. Help them see that these aren't abstract prayer needs. These are the people God has placed in their lives and the mission field they walk into every day.

5

Give people a way to keep praying.

Don't let the prayer end when the service or event is over. Put a QR code for PrayerForSchools.com on the screen and invite people to continue covering their schools in prayer.

There they can access free prayer guides and resources, find practical help for praying for schools, and adopt a school in prayer—committing to personally cover that campus. They can also see the interactive map of schools already being prayed for across the nation.

This gives families, students, grandparents, teachers, and intercessors a simple next step—and helps turn one powerful Back-to-School Prayer event into ongoing prayer throughout the school year.

Tell Us You Hosted One

If your church holds a Back-to-School Prayer gathering, let us know. Hearing what happened helps us encourage other churches to do the same—and lets us pray for the students, teachers, and schools your church is covering.

What to Include

  • Your church name and city and state
  • The date you held your gathering
  • Which format you used—a full prayer night, a portion of a Sunday service, a youth gathering, or something you adapted on your own
  • About how many people took part
  • What stood out—a moment, a story, or something you would tell another church considering this
  • Photos, if you have them and have permission to share them
Email Your Report

Opens your email app with the prompts already filled in. Prefer to write it yourself? Send it to [email protected].

One Event Can Become a Year of Prayer

One Back-to-School Prayer event can become the beginning of a year of prayer. Invite your church to adopt a school and keep covering their campuses all year long.