Pastor Jeanne Miller
Every September brings the sound of school buses on the roads and children back at bus stops or walking along the streets in groups as they make their way to school. For some they are happy to be back in school while for others the summer vacation was too short and went too fast. It used to be a time moms looked forward to because now the house was theirs again!
I’m not sure that is true anymore. I think in a lot of households it’s a time for stress. The pressure on our children for new clothes, new supplies, new friends can be frightening. New experiences for those who are going to school for the first time, or for those having to change schools can weigh heavy on children and parents. Add to this the fact that schools are not the same as they used to be and you can come up with a high stress time for everyone concerned.
Recently I read an article on the changes that have taken place in our country over the last 50 years. It talked about the fact that there is no prayer in school and who would have believed that was a possibility 50 years ago. It also mentioned the openness of homosexual lifestyles that is taught in our schools and made to seem a normal part of life that would never have been allowed 50 years ago. Some people, I know, see it as progress, but I do not. God does not see it as progress either, although that doesn’t seem to bother many people.
Our children are bombarded each and every day with ungodliness in many forms at their schools. You might say, what’s the use, there’s nothing we can do, and give in to the ways of the world. But this is not a Christian attitude to have. The Word still says we are on this earth but we are not of this earth. That goes for every child and every parent who claim to be a Christian. We can’t all put our children in private schools to keep them from rubbing shoulders with the world. Besides, take it from me, many private schools are no better than the public schools. Eventually our children will have to face the world they live in and learn how to exist in it without losing their identities as a Christian.
Our children started off in private schools even though Pastor Bob was a teacher in a public school. However, when they were still in elementary school we were told by the Lord they were to be in public schools. You may say, “Told by the Lord? Isn’t that a little over the top?” But that’s how it was. They were in a new private school in Tulsa when everything seemed to go wrong and we both heard very distinctly that they were in a school He didn’t want them in, hence, all the trouble. We pulled them out and put them where they belonged, in public school, and everything turned around.
The Lord showed me that prayer would be needed for them as they were going into a battlefield, and this was in Tulsa where they would never have dreamed of celebrating Halloween in the schools and they had born again teachers. How times have changed! Every day before and after school they were prayed with and for. When they got older and we had moved back to Maryland, I would bind the demons when they got home everyday. Once again, you may think I’m extreme but what better place for satan to get to our children then at schools where God is not allowed through the door. There were many specific battles fought in the spirit realm through prayer for our children during those years.
As a church we should be lifting up all of our children before the Lord everyday. As brothers and sisters in Christ we should not leave this effort to the parents or grandparents of our children. As parents you must speak the Word over your children so they can hear and know where your heart is for their lives. As the body of Christ throughout this country, we’ve already lost a significant battle when we allowed prayer to be taken out of our schools. And, yes, I do mean we allowed it to happen through our lack of understanding of the plans of the enemy and our lack of seeking the Lord about it. Now it will take much more to get prayer back into schools then it would have taken to keep prayer in from the beginning. We’ve seen violence escalate and hatred increase in our schools on a continual basis since prayer was banned. It’s no coincidence.
We are called the triumphant and glorious church in the Bible and we should have the victory in every battle with the enemy. Jesus made a way and we as a body must walk in that way by faith. This includes taking our schools back for the Lord so our children can have a safe and peaceful atmosphere in which to learn. We have rights as citizens of this country where our schools are concerned and we have more say in what goes on than we realize. I’ve seen policy change because a few parents stood up and would not allow their children to participate in a certain curriculum. When it was over, the school did away with the curriculum rather than have to provide additional curriculum for these children.
In publications throughout the body of Christ right now people are calling for more prayer from the church and more seeking and obeying the Lord. I too believe this is needed for our country (and our schools) in order to be triumphant in everyday life. As the school year progresses, let’s not faint in our prayer life for our children and the schools they attend. Let the change start right here in Gaithersburg and Germantown and then spread throughout the country.
