1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Weekly worship prepares congregations for the work of the week ahead in many different jobs and places. We all carry different burdens throughout the week and are given different tasks. This series of prayers written by Calvin University faculty and staff for people working in various professions can be adapted to fit the different occupations present in your congregation. As a Christian liberal arts institution, Calvin University prepares students not only for their different fields of calling, but to live as agents of renewal and citizens of God’s kingdom in their everyday work and living.
Consider using these prayers over several weeks. They are meant to be prompts and are not all-inclusive. If there are professions in your congregation that are not named here, consider writing your own prayers, acknowledging that we are called to offer all parts of our lives to God.
God of all seasons,
As the warm days slowly grow shorter and this summer season lingers, many of us turn our minds to the school year ahead. As displays of colored pencils, glue sticks, and backpacks fill the aisles of stores, we ask that your Spirit would fill both students and teachers alike, preparing hearts and minds to learn more about your world.
We pray for our students of all ages. We pray for those who may be attending a new school or going to school for the first time. Calm their nerves and give them friends in their new community. Give all students curiosity and the courage to ask bold questions as they seek to learn more about you and your world with wonder and joy. We pray for their safety, but we also pray that you would give them opportunities to take risks and make mistakes. We pray too for the love and support of other adults to surround our students: for parents, grandparents, guardians, and mentors who will guide and advise students as they learn. Bless them with the spiritual gift of encouragement to support and challenge those students around them.
Triune God, you teach us that relationships are at the center of your work in us. Make our learning relational. Bless our students with deep friendships and our teachers with kind and supportive colleagues. Jesus, we pray that our learning would look less like downloading information from a computer and more like your time with your disciples: building relationships, telling stories, and serving others with humility and love.
God, we also pray for teachers in our community. We pray that you would remind all educators why you called them to their work. Imbue them with energy and passion for what they teach. Give them stamina for early morning drives to work and late nights of grading. Give them empathy, patience, and hope when people or circumstances are frustrating. Give them wisdom and courage to teach about difficult topics, knowing that, in the words of your servant Abraham Kuyper, there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which you do not cry, “Mine!” Above all, God, teach them to rely on you.
God our provider, we are grateful for access to good education, and we lament that many in our community, country, and world have been marginalized by corrupt systems. Give us grateful hearts, and bless the efforts of those who educate or pursue knowledge in underserved communities throughout your kingdom.
Father, we know there is no limit to the amount of material our minds can learn, and in knowing this, we glimpse your eternal nature, a faint reflection of your omniscience. May this truth inspire learners to pursue their studies with wonder and passion and fill them with a determination to glorify you in their learning.
We pray all this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray. Amen.
