Meeting with others to pray specifically for one or more of the schools in your area can be a really effective way of focusing prayer. Prayer groups can meet in homes or in some cases on the school premises. So how do you get started?

Getting a group started

• Share the idea with some people who might be interested.
• Plan an initial meeting.
• Produce a written notice about the initial meeting. Make sure there is a way for people to be informed of future meetings even if they can’t make the first one.
• Prepare to start small. Even two or three praying regularly can make a huge difference, but be ready to grow, too!
• Contact known Christians in the schools you will be praying for. Invite them to the meeting, or to give you suggestions for prayer.
• If your group is praying for just one particular school, it can be a good idea to inform the school about what you are doing. It can save misunderstanding, and you may be amazed at the response.
• Pray about your plans.

The first meeting

• Share your vision for the group with everyone, and develop the vision as people have new ideas.
• Give everyone space for questions, comments, etc.
• Determine the frequency of the meetings.

Use this checklist:

• Where will you meet?
• Which day and at what time?
• How often and for how long?
• Will the venue be fixed or varied?
• Who will lead the meetings?
• How will you make sure anyone interested hears about it?
• How will you find out what needs there are to pray for?

What to pray for

• Pray about the whole of school life: pupils, staff, class teachers, management, appointments, Christians in the school, governors, RE policy, assemblies, special events, exams, discipline, safety, etc…
• Keep a record of the things you pray for, and how God answers.
• You may be asked to pray for things that are confidential. Make sure the information is kept within the group.

Keeping going

• Think long term. Sometimes we need to pray about things for a long time.
• Look for ways of sharing with local churches what has been going on in your group. Have a regular way of getting your group advertised in churches, perhaps through their weekly or monthly news sheets.
• Invite a special guest from time to time, to pray with you or share some things for prayer. This could be a local Christian involved in education, some pupils from school, or a local SU leader or Scripture Union schools worker.

Praying for Scripture Union

For the latest news and prayer information to help you pray for the work of Scripture Union in schools please click on any of the links below.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools
• East Belfast
• North Coast
• Antrim
• Ballymena
• Bangor
  

Praying for SU Groups

Please click here to downlad a copy of our School SU Prayer Guide for 2010. The guide lists all the schools in Northern Ireland in which there is a Scripture Union group at present and offers some prayer suggestions.

The guide can be used in a number of different ways.

• You may wish to pray regularly for all the groups listed. If so, we suggest that you pray for around five groups each day as indicated in the guide. In this way you will pray for each group once every two months.
• You may wish to pray for all the groups in your area. If so, please click here to view or download a list of SU groups arranged in postcode order so that you can find out which groups there are in your area.
  
• You may wish to pray simply for one or two groups that you know.

However many groups you are praying for, we trust that the information and suggestions given in the guide will be helpful. Your prayers will be appreciated and will make a difference!

As an alternative to the guide you can use the Praying For Schools box on the right of this page to help you pray for around five SU groups a day.

For prayer requests from specific groups. please click on either of the links below.

• Primary School SU Prayer Requests
• Secondary School SU Prayer Requests
  

Praying For Schools

Meeting with others to pray specifically for one or more of the schools in your area can be a really effective way of focusing prayer. Prayer groups can meet in homes or in some cases on the school premises. So how do you get started?

Getting a group started

• Share the idea with some people who might be interested.
• Plan an initial meeting.
• Produce a written notice about the initial meeting. Make sure there is a way for people to be informed of future meetings even if they can’t make the first one.
• Prepare to start small. Even two or three praying regularly can make a huge difference, but be ready to grow, too!
• Contact known Christians in the schools you will be praying for. Invite them to the meeting, or to give you suggestions for prayer.
• If your group is praying for just one particular school, it can be a good idea to inform the school about what you are doing. It can save misunderstanding, and you may be amazed at the response.
• Pray about your plans.

The first meeting

• Share your vision for the group with everyone, and develop the vision as people have new ideas.
• Give everyone space for questions, comments, etc.
• Determine the frequency of the meetings.

Use this checklist:

• Where will you meet?
• Which day and at what time?
• How often and for how long?
• Will the venue be fixed or varied?
• Who will lead the meetings?
• How will you make sure anyone interested hears about it?
• How will you find out what needs there are to pray for?

What to pray for

• Pray about the whole of school life: pupils, staff, class teachers, management, appointments, Christians in the school, governors, RE policy, assemblies, special events, exams, discipline, safety, etc…
• Keep a record of the things you pray for, and how God answers.
• You may be asked to pray for things that are confidential. Make sure the information is kept within the group.

Keeping going

• Think long term. Sometimes we need to pray about things for a long time.
• Look for ways of sharing with local churches what has been going on in your group. Have a regular way of getting your group advertised in churches, perhaps through their weekly or monthly news sheets.
• Invite a special guest from time to time, to pray with you or share some things for prayer. This could be a local Christian involved in education, some pupils from school, or a local SU leader or Scripture Union schools worker.

Encouraging Your Church to Pray

As well as praying yourself, there are a number of ways in which you might encourage your church to pray for the schools in your area. Here are a few ideas:

Church services

• Hold a commissioning service for Christian teachers and SU leaders at the start of the new school year.
  
• Mark the annual ‘Education Sunday’ as an opportunity to focus on schools.
  

Home groups and cells

• Encourage each group to pray specifically for schools.  Adopt a teacher or a school and pray for them regularly.
  

Focus on Schools’ evening

• This could have many different emphases: prayer for all the teachers and classroom assistants in your church community, prayer for specific local schools, or for the work of Scripture Union in Schools. 
  

Church notices

• Have a regular slot in your prayer diary or on your notice board where items for prayer for local schools can be mentioned.
  

Prayer Coordinator

• All of the above are more likely to happen if someone with a particular interest in this area of church life takes responsibility for keeping people informed of prayer needs. As a church member perhaps you could be the one to find out about your local schools and share the needs with your church or home group.