A Back to School Prayer
“May the LORD answer you when you are in distress.”
Psalm 20:1 (NIV)
About ten years ago I read a wonderful book on prayer, A Praying Life, by Paul E. Miller. The book was an unexpected gift from a dear friend who placed it in my hands one Sunday morning at church. As she handed the book to me, Jane simply said, "This book has changed my prayer life." I remember thinking, "That's quite an endorsement," and while I didn't doubt that it changed my friend's life, I couldn't imagine it impacting mine.
But I started reading and the more I read, the more I wanted to read. A Praying Life isn't just a book about prayer, what it is, and how to do it. It's more of a journey through suffering, overcoming adversity, and persevering through great difficulty. Paul Miller and his wife Jill are special needs parents to their daughter Kim, an adult woman with autism. Miller's entire perspective on prayer is summarized in one sentence: "God taught me to pray through suffering." Throughout the book, Miller interweaves his family's personal struggle with practical instruction on praying IN the chaos of life.
One of Miller's first prayer principles is that we need to learn to pray as a little child. And how do little children pray? They pray:
without pretense and come messy
dependent and totally helpless
totally self-absorbed
real, with no filter
believing they will receive what is asked for and
able to see God's work and wonder
Most of us use prayer as a crisis management tool. We face a difficult situation, pray a desperate prayer, hope for a quick and easy answer, and return to pre-crisis mode as soon as possible. If we are honest, we’re not even sure how to pray or what to pray about most of the time. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with how to best pray (Romans 8:26). That’s why I love to use scripture to frame my prayers for my family.
My favorite “go to” prayer for my children and grandchildren is Psalm 20. It is truly a prayer for all ages and stages of life, but it is especially appropriate during this back to school season as our children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors return to the classroom and athletic arenas as students, teachers, coaches, and administrators. In our current cultural moment, they will face as many tests outside the classroom as they do within it. And so, I pray as I drive past my neighborhood schools, help with my granddaughters’ after school pickup, or attend various athletic events.
I’m not sure who King David was praying for when he penned the words to Psalm 20, but 3000 years later, I am using his words to pray for anxious kindergarteners, adolescent middle schoolers, teenage high schoolers, and young adult college students who are facing a new school year with its many new challenges and opportunities. It’s also a great prayer to pray for their worried parents and grandparents!
May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help…and grant you support.
May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your offerings
May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests….
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God…
O LORD, save… Answer us when we call!
We won’t be able to solve all of our loved ones’ problems, but we can pray to the One “who answers prayer the way we would if we knew what he knows.” (Tim Keller)
“Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1 (NIV)