Prayer is a part of our lives. But have you ever wondered who started the first prayer? You’ll discover an interesting history of how afternoon prayer was started in school and how it is implemented today.
Afternoon prayer at school has led to a legal battle in the Northern Ireland. This has happened because of a parent challenging the legality of schools holding Christian worship without opt-out for non-Christian children.
Right here on Churchgists, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on short prayer after class, short prayer before class for high school, prayer before class during pandemic, and so much more. Take out time to visit our Website for more information on similar topics.
Short Afternoon Prayer In School:
In many schools around the world, a short afternoon prayer is said before students are dismissed for the day. This moment of reflection allows students and teachers to express gratitude, seek guidance, and find peace before heading home.
Prayer 1
Dear Heavenly Father, as we come to the end of another school day, we thank you for your presence with us. Help us to carry your light and love in our hearts as we go our separate ways. Amen.
Prayer 2
Lord, grant us wisdom and understanding as we navigate through the challenges of each day. Help us to be kind and compassionate towards one another. Amen.
Prayer 3
God, we pray for those who are struggling and in need of comfort. May your healing touch be upon them, and may they feel your peace in their hearts. Amen.
Prayer 4
Dear Lord, guide us in making good choices and help us to always do what is right. May we be a shining example of your love to those around us. Amen.
Prayer 5
Heavenly Father, we lift up our families to you. Bless them with health, happiness, and safety. Keep them under your loving care always. Amen.
Prayer 6
Lord Jesus, we thank you for the gift of this day and for all the learning and growth we have experienced. Help us to carry these lessons with us into tomorrow. Amen.
Prayer 7
God of grace, we ask for your protection and guidance as we travel home. Watch over us and keep us safe from harm. Amen.
Prayer 8
Eternal God, we are grateful for the friendships we have formed and the community we are a part of. Help us to always be supportive and caring towards one another. Amen.
As it says in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Let us always remember the power of prayer in our lives.
Afternoon Prayer In School
Afternoon Prayer
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we come before you now to ask for your guidance and support. We ask that you bless our teachers with the wisdom and knowledge they need to lead our children in their learning. Bless the children who are here today and those who are not able to be here today but are watching from home. Bless them with a love of learning and a desire to grow into good citizens of this world. Keep them safe until we can bring them back together again tomorrow. We ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Dear God, thank you for this day, and for the opportunity to learn. Please help us to be good students, and to make good choices. Please help us to help each other. Amen
Dear God,
We thank you for this day. We thank you for our family and friends, and for the opportunity to learn. Please help us to use our time wisely and productively so that we can grow into the people that you want us to be. Help us to treat everyone around us with kindness and respect, especially those who are different from us. And please give us the strength to do what is right even when it’s hard. In your name we pray, amen.
Dear Lord, we thank you for this day. We pray that you would guide and protect us as we go through our daily lives. Give us the strength to persevere, and may we always be ready to help those in need. We ask these things in your name, Amen.
All of you, come here.
We are gathered here today to worship God, and to ask for his help in our lives.
Let us pray…
short prayer after class
Dear Lord, Thank you that you promise us That when two or more come together in Your name You are with us. Thank you Lord that you have been with us throughout this lesson And that you are with us right now. Inspire us as we leave this place To love and serve You always. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Dear Father and Lord of all, Thank you for our school and everybody who works and studies in it. We are so grateful for all the things we have learnt today. Be with us now as we journey home. Please keep us safe and watch over all our families and friends. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Prayer to St. Joseph, Patron of Workers
O Blessed Saint Joseph, we pray to you for those who are out of work, for those who want to earn their living or support their families.
O Holy Saint, you who are the patron of workers, grant that unemployment may lessen or vanish from our ranks; that all those who are ready to work may put their strength and abilities in serving their society and communities, and earn a just salary.
Blessed Joseph, foster-father of the Lord, You are the patron of families; do not let those who have children to support and raise lack the necessary means to achieve security for those who depend upon them. Have pity on every person held down by the chains of unemployment and poverty because of sickness or social disorders. Help our political leaders and leaders of industry find new and just solutions to equitable and living wages. May each and every worker have the joy of contributing, according to their God-given abilities, to the common prosperity of society by means of an honorable livelihood.
Grant that we may all share together in the abundant goods God has given us and that we may help all who suffer at the margins of society, the poor, disabled, the elderly and the pandemically sick.
Amen.
Prayer of the Unemployed
O God, who made me in your image and intended me for creative, fulfilling, life-giving work; look with love on me now, unemployed and growing anxious and fearful.
Help me to find ways, without self-pity, to enjoy life alongside those who are fortunate enough to be still working, and to understand what kind of help we need to give one another in this time of great stress, confusion and challenge.
Guide the leaders of our city, county, State and Nation, so that they may make decisions and create policies which will benefit and sustain us, our families, friends, and all society, decisions which are rooted in Christ’s own vision of the dignity of work; in justice, and compassion.
Finally, Lord, I ask you to guide me and everyone in the sure and certain knowledge that we all have intrinsic worth in ourselves, in the very fiber of our being, and that we are all of equal value in your eyes, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
That All May Have Work
O God, the Creator of all things, you have made us in your own image so that we may find joy in creative work: have mercy on all those who are unemployed, and those who find their work dull, especially for: (pause here to bring to mind the names of those for whom you are praying).
Help us, as one family, your children, to build a society where all may have work and find joy in doing it, for the good of our world and the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Employment
God, our Father, I turn to you seeking your divine help and guidance as I look for suitable employment.
I need your wisdom to guide my footsteps along the right path, and to lead me to find the proper things to say and do in this quest.
I wish to use the gifts and talents you have given me, but I need the opportunity to do so with gainful employment.
Stay close by me, dear Heavenly Father, in this search, and grant me this favor of gainful, sustaining work.
My heart and my mind are filled with praise and thanksgiving for your gracious assistance, O loving, protecting God.
Grant this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer for the Coronavirus to Stop Spreading
Almighty and loving God, we know that everything is in Your compassionate and just control.
We ask with all the power in our minds and hearts that You keep this new coronavirus from continuing to spread unabated, out of control.
Give government officials the ability to safely and with charity, manage the people arriving on our shores and borders from other countries.
Help people everywhere, in our cities, in our towns, and in our rural countryside, to decide to stay home instead of traveling or going out needlessly.
Holy Spirit of God, remind people to do the ordinary, most common things instructed by our health authorities…to wear face masks, to wash their hands properly, to be constantly mindful of cleanliness.
And finally, sadly, comfort individuals and families whose hearts are breaking as they decide to keep their distance from elderly or other family members, whose risk for very serious illness or even death from the coronavirus is high.
We pray all this, O mighty and healing, comforting God, in the name of Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
Pray for people who are infected with COVID-19 or facing quarantine
Jesus, during Your ministry on Earth You showed Your power and caring by healing people of all ages and stations of life from physical, mental, and spiritual ailments.
Be present now to people who need Your loving touch because of COVID-19.
May they feel Your power of healing through the care of doctors and nurses. (Pause here to call to mind the names of anyone in particular for whom you wish to pray…)
Take away the fear, anxiety, and feelings of isolation from people receiving treatment, whether at home or in the hospital, or under quarantine.
Give them a sense of purpose in pursuing health or regaining it and protecting others from exposure to the disease by their own mindfulness and efforts.
Give insight and energy to their healthcare providers, and protect their families and friends, sustaining the health of each one, and bring peace to all who love them.
We pray this as always, in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Amen.
Pray for medical professionals, caregivers, and researchers, and all those responsible for fighting the coronavirus.
God, as I become more and more aware, each day, of more and more people falling ill, I know that dedicated and heroic healthcare workers and first responders are working longer hours with fewer supplies and with more risk of contracting the new coronavirus themselves.
I ask of You, most blessed, holy, and powerful Divine Physician, to renew their energy and sustain them on long shifts.
Bring Your heavenly peace and protection upon them as they work with patients.
May your healing love and strength work through them as they work with the sick.
Make it be possible, even by miraculous intervention, that the supplies which they desperately need to stay safe and healthy on the job become and remain fully available, and in stay plentiful supply.
Inspire and invigorate the research doctors and any others developing better tests to diagnose the virus, creating vaccines to prevent it, and identifying protocols to eliminate the spread of Covid-19.
Holy Spirit, God of healing, hover eternally over, and bless the lives and work of those who work so hard to take care of us in our medical needs.
And we make this prayer, as always, in the name of Christ, Our Blessed Lord.
Amen.
Pray for leaders responsible for making decisions about the coronavirus.
Gracious God and Father, Maker of all things and source of wisdom and goodness, we seek Your guidance daily.
Make you presence felt to those various persons who have the high responsibility of making decisions that affect the lives and futures of our families, communities, countries, and the wider world.
We pray that they communicate clearly, truthfully, and calmly — with each other and with the public – and that their messages are crafted with the goal of the safety and welfare of all.
May truth and empathy be the touchstones of anyone tasked with setting policies for our protection.
Help those in authority see the people they govern as valued members of their own families; give them clear vision as well as hope.
May they, leaders both elected and appointed, serve as did Our Lord Jesus, with true compassion and in Your Truth.
We ask this, as always, in the name of Jesus, your Son and Our Lord.
Amen.
Pray for families adjusting to new ways of life
Holy Spirit of God, and emanation of God’s Love, as our families and friends, indeed all of us, adjust to everyone being home as businesses and schools close, we ask that You guide people in their new realities; especially myself.
Give spouses grace to find the space for each other.
Prompt worn-out parents to speak only with words of kindness and encouragement to our children.
Help children and students find creative ways and genuinely fun outlets to experience the beauty of all You have created in this still beautiful world.
Help us all to value learning new things, and new ways of doing things, and new ways of looking at what we have taken for granted.
In this time of tremendous worry and challenge, may even the uncertainty brought to our lives by the virus Covid-19 become an impetus to renew ourselves with the gifts and talents with which you have imbued us from our birth.
In thanksgiving, then, we pray today and always, in the powerful and beautiful name of Jesus the Lord.
Amen.
Pray for business owners and families facing financial stress.
Jesus, Lord, Companion, and divine friend… I thank You this new day for Your constant, never-failing faithfulness in how you have guided and equipped people in their jobs and have provided solace, healing and guidance to me in the past.
It is absolutely frightening to me at this time, and overwhelming, not clearly knowing or being sure how bills and obligations will be met, or to not be entirely certain how to provide for my family.
As I and countless others feel the awful pressures of financial strain and stress during the current pandemic crisis gripping our land, I humbly ask You to allow me a measure of your divine comfort and peace.
Please remind me and my brothers and sisters feeling the same way as I do that You are there for us…for everyone.
Provide for us in this time of special need.
We pray to you, Jesus, Lord and Helper, in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Pray for grocery store workers and delivery drivers.
Lord God, I want to offer a special prayer today to you for the sake of all those good folks to whom we are so grateful…those who continue to work each day so that people are able to eat; grocery workers, clerks, truck and delivery drivers, warehouse workers, those who clean and scrub the stores, customer care personnel, and so many others even behind the scenes where I do not often see.
I ask that You bless and protect them as they serve.
Their work is a real ministry, a ministry of care and support for the most ordinary aspects of life.
Give them all the grace to handle disgruntled customers during supplies shortages.
Keep their bodies healthy as they unload and stock boxes of supplies.
Keep their cars and trucks running smoothly as they deliver needed supplies and food people have ordered online.
And please protect them all from contracting the coronavirus.
My heart is full of gratitude for them…help me to remember to sincerely say the beautiful, simple words, “Thank-you!” to any one of those amazing people whom I might encounter today.
And thank-YOU, also, Lord Jesus…Amen.
A Prayer: Healing from COVID-19
God of Mercy and Grace, You have called us from the east and from the west, from the south and from the north to be your body in this world.
Keep us connected through you even in our physical distance. We come to you trusting that you are our refuge and our strength, our very present help in trouble.
We pray for people who are experiencing any symptoms of the COVID-19 virus, and for the family and medical staff who surround them in care.
We pray for those who are most vulnerable to this disease, whether from advanced age, or from underlying health conditions or any other contributing factors. May they rest in your peace and protection.
We pray for healthcare workers and people on the front lines of this disease. For workers who are in essential roles to keep our communities going. Keep them healthy; keep them safe. Guide their hands in the service of others.
We pray for parents and children who are struggling with this new normal of homeschool, and especially those children and families who rely on school meal programs for daily nutrition. We pray for everyone struggling with these rapid changes. May we be comforted by your peace and your presence.
We pray for people who face hate and discrimination brought on by fear and anger, for anyone beaten down by oppression, racism, sexism, ageism, poverty, or any cultural exclusion. May these your beloved children feel your warm and loving embrace.
We pray for those whose actions are motivated by fear and anger. May they remember that you are a God of abundance. May weapons and words of violence never rule our lives.
We pray for our leaders. May they be guided by your wisdom and not selfish interests. May they be courageous and make the bold decisions necessary to end this pandemic. May they make simple truth their daily practice.
And we pray for all the advocates and the volunteers who are responding to your call to care for the people who are most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. Give them endurance. Stir them with your longing for justice. May they be comforted and moved by your Holy Spirit.
It is in the strong name of Jesus that we do pray.
Amen.