Prayer in Schools…

In 1962, the Supreme Court struck down government-mandated prayer in public schools.  This ruling led many to believe that it was forbidden to pray in school.  Not so.  As one bumper sticker stated, “As long as there are students and tests, there will be prayer in schools.” 

About twenty-four years ago, I read about a church in the Midwest that prayed over every classroom in their neighborhood schools.  I thought, “We could do that!”  Thus, an annual event in our church began to pray over every classroom in our county.

We got permission from the school district to go into the schools.  They notified the principals.  We couldn’t quite pull off praying in every school the first year.  We did cover every school in our city.  The next year, we went to every school in our county.  We invited other churches to join us.  Some years, some churches did.  Some years they didn’t.  It didn’t matter.  We went and we prayed.  When we launched a campus in a neighboring county, we prayed over those schools, too.

I’ve been to rural schools to pray.  One principal thanked me, saying, “No one ever pays attention to us. They say we are too far out!”  I prayed with the office staff, praying they would have patience with parents who were upset.  I prayed with the custodians, who had to clean up everyone else’s messes (I told them they were just like Jesus).  All the teachers were at a district-wide meeting, so I prayed over their classrooms, imagining the challenges each teacher faced in teaching their grade.

One of my most memorable experiences was joining with a friend who was a grandfather and praying over the school that my children and his grandchildren attended.  With great spiritual wisdom, he would stand before a door and pray that the science teacher would open the mysteries of creation to children, that the library might inspire children to read so they read God’s story for themselves, and that the Special Ed classroom might be filled with hope and patience.  I learned about prayer that day.

This year, there were two schools that were not picked up by others going to pray.  These schools were supposedly in the rougher part of town.  I’d been to both schools before, and I wanted to make sure these schools were prayed over.

At the first school, I caught the faculty in a meeting.  The principal paused the meeting and invited me to pray.  He said, “We need all the prayer we can get.”  I prayed for the teachers to have wisdom and patience, for the parents to be involved (lots of “amens” on that part), and for students to be engaged and motivated.  I prayed for protection for the school.  Then I left the meeting and began to pray over every classroom.  I wrote notes on Post-It Notes telling the teachers I prayed for them.  One teacher had left a note on her door from three years earlier.  She said she looked at it every day for encouragement. By then, the faculty meeting had broken up, and I was able to pray with several teachers individually.  When I asked if I could pray with them, no one turned me down.  One teacher said, “Lord yes, pray for me.  I’m teaching a new grade this fall.”

I caught the teachers at the second school getting their picture taken.  The principal graciously invited me to pray with them.  The air conditioning was not working well, so I promised to be brief, telling them I knew how much anti-perspirant they put on, and it had worn off.  Off I went to pray over the rooms.  I prayed with one teacher who was going back into the classroom after spending several years in administration.  I prayed for one group of preschool teachers who had no air conditioning.  I prayed with a group of facilities people.  One man had been lifting and arranging tables.  He “amened” my prayer often. 

As is so often true when we go to serve others, I was the one who was most blessed.  It was a great privilege to pray with these educators.  Many of them had taught for years.  I told them they were God’s servants, doing his work.  If you want to see true dedication, go to an under-resourced school and find teachers who sign up every year to change the world one day at a time.

I could not help but think that before anyone is allowed to make a law about public education, they should spend an hour walking the halls of a school, meet real teachers, and see dedication. 

I wondered why every church hasn’t embraced this simple way to serve.  We followers of Jesus believe prayer moves mountains.  We know Jesus to embrace and serve the least of these.  We can make a difference with our prayers.  Instead of arguing about prayer in schools, let us go and pray.

As I left the last school (having sweated through my shirt.  Can’t the district find the money to turn on the air conditioning for teachers?), one of the teachers caught up with me and said, “Now you need to come back every Monday and pray.  Especially when the kids get here. After about two weeks, some of them will need the demons cast out of them!”  We laughed together, but I think I understood what she was saying.  Prayer brings hope.  What better place than a school to pray for hope?