The summer is ending, and school is resuming in most places. During this time of year, I am thankful I am not a schoolteacher. In my opinion, being a teacher is now more difficult than ever before – especially for those who serve in public schools. Fifty years ago, teachers did not have to deal with the threat of physical violence, widespread chemical abuse, abbreviated attention spans, and total disrespect for authority to the degree they do today.
Even more challenging is to be a devoted Christian and a teacher in a public school. God-honoring teachers, principals, coaches, band leaders, and counselors desperately want to impact their students for Christ. Yet nervous administrators fearful of lawsuits and aggressive secularists eager to challenge any hint of separation of church and state make it nearly impossible for Christian teachers to witness meaningfully. Consequently, courageous Christian teachers are among the unsung heroes in the church.
Since the Bible urges us to “Encourage one another daily” and to “pray for one another,” I would like to offer the following prayer for our schoolteachers who have courageously reenlisted for another term on the front lines.
Our Father in Heaven,
We confess that we demand too much from our schoolteachers.
We expect them to create a love for learning within an environment where many students don’t seem to care, mainly because their parents don’t really care.
We want teachers to be good disciplinarians, yet we give them little leverage over those who rebel.
We want our teachers to live exemplary lives, yet we ridicule their most cherished values.
We expect them to work after school preparing lessons and grading papers and to spend their summers furthering their education, yet their pay is not nearly what it should be.
Lord, remind our teachers just now of their high calling from you.
Fill them anew with the Holy Spirit and grant them a fresh eagerness to enter the classroom to fulfill that calling.
Assure them they are not going at it alone, for you have promised never to leave them or forsake them.
Grant them patience when their nerves get frazzled.
Grant them wisdom when their values are challenged.
Grant them energy when they feel completely drained.
Grant them courage when they’re tempted to withdraw from an opportunity to stand for your truth, be it in the classroom or the teacher’s lounge.
Grant them compassion, even for the most undisciplined, irritating, despicable, and unlovable students in the class.
On those days when it seems no one appreciates their efforts and they battle discouragement, remind them of their ultimate goal — not to please men but to honor you.
And on that final day, when school is permanently over, and they stand before you for their final evaluation, may they hear you say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
And, Lord, as they stroll the golden streets of heaven, may they encounter many former students who gush with gratitude and tell them,
“Thanks for the positive impact you had on my life. You didn’t realize it at the time, but I was watching you. I probably wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for your influence.”
Father, we ask for these blessings in the name of the One who was often referred to as “Good Teacher,” Jesus Christ.
Amen.
.
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