Praying for Our Schools

“Thus says the Lord…“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons and you shall commit to Me
the work of My hands.”
Isaiah 45:11 (NASB) 

Last December when I was looking ahead at what 2020 might bring, I remember thinking, “My prayer life really stinks” and asking God to help me pray more this year. Fast-forward nine months and a pandemic later, and I know that I am not the only one who has been driven to my knees by my need. Driving through our neighborhood streets, it’s easy to spot the blue and white “Praying for our Schools” signs in a number of front yards. And each time I do, I pray a quick dart prayer, “Lord, please spread your protection over them.” (Psalm 5:11 NIV) I don’t know all of the “them” for whom I’m praying, but I’m acutely aware of the collective “schools” represented by both the yard signs and my prayers.

Dart prayers are not wordy or windy prayers, just short and to the point, acknowledging our utter helplessness and dependence on God. Examples of effective dart prayers found in scripture include the Apostle Peter’s desperate "Lord, save me!" prayer (Matthew 14:30) as well as Nehemiah’s fervent “Strengthen my hands” and “Remember me” prayers (Nehemiah 6:9; 13:14,22,31). The great English preacher Charles Spurgeon once wisely noted, “Short prayers are long enough.” Indeed they are, especially when the words prayed are God’s words!

And so I pray. I pray for my granddaughters: 6-year old Caroline who is a first grader and 8-year old Julia, a budding third grader. Remembering my own anxiety level at the start of each new school year, I wonder what the girls’ anxiety level is with mandatory social distancing, plexiglass barriers, face masks, and infection control measures in place. “Lord, help them to trust in you whenever they are afraid.” (Psalm 56:3)

I also pray for their Mama and Daddy who send them off to school each day, not knowing whether the day will bring a call from the school nurse and another quarantine with a virtual learning mandate. They join other working parents who are also trying to juggle the demands of working from home, parenting pre-schoolers, and the possibility of more homeschooling.

As the wife of an educator who taught and coached for 38 years, I pray for the classroom teachers and coaches who all have additional responsibilities due to the Covid pandemic. Many of them are juggling both virtual and in classroom teaching resulting in dual lesson plans, extra hours, and no additional pay. I pray for teacher voices to be strengthened so that the children can hear instructions through face masks. I pray for the students from kindergarten through college to be good listeners and learners. I pray for coaches and administrators who are trying to keep struggling athletic programs going while still keeping students safe. I pray for support staff- bus drivers, maintenance, janitors, lunchroom personnel- who also have key roles in keeping our children and teachers safe. And as I drive, I pray for a Covid-cure, a vaccine, a drug therapy, or one word from God to bring an end to the current crisis.

Dart prayers are not, of course, the only kind of prayers we can pray for our children, grandchildren, parents and teachers. Ultimate prayers are those prayers that honor God, advance His kingdom, and bring Him glory. Jesus’ “Hallowed be Thy Name” (Matthew 6:9) and King David’s “Do as you have promised,” (2 Samuel 7:25) are ultimate prayer models. So is today’s Bible Bits verse: “Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons and you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.” (Isaiah 45:11 NASB)

I first discovered this verse in 1989 when James Bruce was five years old. As I read the words, I suddenly realized that God claims ownership and responsibility for His children. Our children belonged to God before they belonged to us and they will continue to belong to Him long after we are gone.

And so I prayed, “Lord, what about James Bruce? You made him. You know him better than we do. What do we do and how do we do it?” 2700 years later, as we still wait for James Bruce’s Covid delayed long-term residential placement at Rainbow Omega, Isaiah’s words are as relevant today as they were the first day I whispered them in 1989. God commands us to ask Him about His children and so we in obedience ask. We ask for the first and third graders and all of those in between. We ask for the special needs kids; the gifted students; and the typical kids. We ask for preschool and college students. We ask for wisdom, grace, and help in time of need. Most of all, we ask for God to work in each of them (and us) “what is pleasing to Him.” (Hebrews 13:21)

Jon Bloom once wrote, “We need to feel our need. Where real need is not felt, there is rarely any real praying. Our places of desperation are the places of revelation of His power.”

The current Covid pandemic may be driving us to our knees with many needs, not the least of which is our children. Recognizing our real need however- not relief of our circumstances, but for God Himself- is the starting point for all real prayer. Read through Scripture and you’ll find that the people who were desperate for God were also dependent on Him, delivered by Him, and delighted in God.

May it also be so for us as we pray for our children and schools!

Amen and Amen,
Donna