By Jennifer R.I recently attended our senior recognition day, where the parents of graduating seniors got a brief three minutes to give their students a charge as they go forward into the next phase of their lives. I was struck by the variety of the charges and the different Scriptures used by each set of parents. I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of some of these parents’ prayers and advice for their students so that we can know better how to lift up these college students in prayer. And we NEED to be lifting them up in prayer. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should be enough to get you started. So here they are, in no particular order:
As you venture out into this world, remember to depend on the One who knows the beginning from the end.
Proverbs 2:6–9 (NASB)
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.
Think, talk, and write constantly about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do not let a second go by when you are not aware of His presence, or thinking about Him in some way.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Matthew 5:14 (ESV):
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Be faithful to stay in God's word daily. Be filled with the knowledge of His will.
Colossians 1:9-12 (NJKV)
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Focus on others more than yourself. Be sensitive to others. Be faithful to serve the Lord. Be wise in your decisions. Choose friends carefully. Guard your heart.
1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV):
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
James 1:5-6 (ESV)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Colossians 3:13 (ESV):
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Keep your focus on Jesus Christ; keep your eyes on Jesus.
Colossians 3:2 (NKJV)
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Seek God first in all things. Seek Him before all other counsel, before all other companionship, before all other pleasure.
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
