Spiritually

Day 5, Praying for Our Students

 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. Colossians 1:9 (NIV)

              Terri was new to our school. She moved from a larger town and struggled to understand the way a small-town high school operated. It’s hard moving to a place where friend groups were established in elementary school, and everyone already has a place. But Terri sat back and watched. She didn’t try to find a group of friends. Instead, she kept to herself.

              I was one of those floater kids; I tried to be nice to everyone and not choose sides. Over a few weeks of being kind and starting conversations, Terri learned I was sincere and opened up in our lunch conversations. She had a tough homelife, but she also had dreams. She wanted to help other people and make a difference in the lives of others.

              In our conversations, I asked her if she was a Christian. We spent lots of time talking through our questions about God and why he allowed the hard stuff. Eventually Terri asked me if I could help her understand what it meant to be saved. I led her through the Romans Road in my Bible and we talked about how we were all sinners in need of a Savior. I got a Bible from my pastor and gave it to Terri and showed her how to find different books and passages.

Terri became a Jesus follower that year and continues to lead a life of difference making in her sphere of influence. She knew there was something missing in her life, but wasn’t sure what. Our honest conversations were the catalyst for her coming to know Christ and then learning to seek him on her own.

If we work in the public school system, we can’t share as freely as teachers who work in Christian environments, but one thing we can do is beat down the doors of heaven with prayers for the souls of our students. We might be the only person in their life praying for their salvation. And we might be the only person they see who models what it means to be a Christ follower.

               Here are some ways that we can pray for the spiritual well-being of our students.

1.      Daily pray for them to recognize the elaborate design of the created world around them and know that there has to be a creator behind it all.

2.      Pray for other students to start conversations with their peers about Christ, like I was able to do in high school with Terri.

3.      For safe adults who will invite them to church, pick them up, and invest in their lives.

4.      Seeds to be planted and watered that will ultimately lead to a relationship with Christ.

5.      Protection from evil that parents, guardians, or friends bring in their homes.

6.      Dreams, visions, or encounters that show them there is a God and he loves them very much.

7.      Pray that the eyes of their hearts be opened to the reality of sin and that being good enough will never be what matters.

8.      Ask for God to place speakers, Bible teachers, neighbors, and books into their hands that will point them to Jesus.

9.      Eyes to see false teachers, religions, and people. To never settle for anything but God’s truth.

10.  That God would somehow use us, as the educator, to point these students to Christ and that our rooms would be safe and healing spaces.

Do the Heart Work

1.      How often do you consider the spiritual well-being of your most difficult students? All students?

2.      What are some ways you can begin praying for your students that you may not have considered before?

3.      In what ways can you pray for God’s help to reach these students for his glory?

Digging Deeper

1.            For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)

2.      And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)

3.       I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:16-23 (NIV)

These scriptures are wonderful prayers we can begin praying for our students. Not only our students, but also for our coworkers, leaders, and staff members of our schools.

If You Get Spare Time 

              It’s easy to get distracted by the frustrations in our school. Have you ever considered it’s bigger than frustration? Maybe it is spiritual. Our enemy prowls around like a hungry lion, devouring all in its path. What if we have been placed where we are to not only pray for our students but also for the spiritual well-being of all involved at the school? We need to ask God for his Holy Spirit filled vision to see the battles taking place for the souls of our kids, coworkers, and staff. Ask God to change your view and show you how to pray in ALL things.