Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24 NIV

Praying For Your Students

There is so much going on in our classrooms each day from the moment that the first student walks into the room. It seems so busy that we purposely don’t drink water because we know we can’t make it to the bathroom! What if we carved a few minutes a week to intentionally pray for our students? What do you think would happen to our classroom culture if we used a few minutes of our classroom time to discuss real issues with our students?

I believe doing both could certainly change the culture of a classroom and school community. Whether you teach in a private school and can pray openly with your students or if you are a person of faith teaching in a public school, you can still be there for your students by praying for them.

Why The Psalms?

The Psalms are a tremendous resource for prayer. They are a collection of the prayers and songs of praise of ancient Israel, which have also become the prayers and songs of the Christian Church from its earliest days. The Psalmists dealt with many of the same issues that our students and our own families are struggling with today. The Psalms can give us a framework on how to work through various situations we may encounter. The Psalms are can be sorted into many categories. Some of them include:

• Praise and Devotion
• Confession
• Lament– Which could be pain, anger, and complaints
• Petition-Requests that we have
• Intercession-Help for ourselves and our students
• Thanksgiving

There are 150 Psalms, Where do I even begin?

There are so many Psalms, I did not know where to begin. So as I am trying this out, I did the most logical thing to me and started with Psalm one. I am not sure that I will go through all 150 of them, but I don’t think it would hurt! Here is the template that I am going to try for a while. This is my first go around with it and I may tweak it along the way:

Psalm 1 NIV

The Righteous and the Ungodly

1¹ Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, ² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. ³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither- whatever they do prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. ⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Takeaway:

Although it can be difficult at times and in many ways counter-cultural, we will live life to the fullest when we follow God’s will for our lives and obey his commands. Fruit does not appear on a tree overnight, it takes careful pruning and nurturing to bear good fruit. It is the same with our students. We must be intentional each day with them and set firm and loving expectations of our students if we want them to do well this school year.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you, Lord, for being always near to me and always helping to light my path even when it appears dark. I know that it’s not always easy to do your will but help me to be comforted that it is your plan and to know that this path is worth it. Help me to show my students every day how doing your will can not only be a blessing to others but glorifies you as well. Give my students the strength and the discipline to do what is right, no matter what others may say or do otherwise. Help us to listen to you today and have the heart to obey.

 Amen.

Weekly Discussion Questions for Students:

• When has it been difficult to do the right thing?
• How do you feel when you do what’s right and others do not?
• How can we help each other choose to do good in our classroom?
• How can we help others who are being treated poorly for doing what is right?

Praises- I will write these down as I think of them throughout the week

Requests-I will write these down as I hear concerns from my students, colleagues, or my own family

Our Students Need Our Prayers

Now more than ever, our students need our prayers. Through our prayers and intentional conversations in the classroom, we can help change our students’ lives by showing that we care. Post a comment or contact me if you used this prayer this week and what impact it had in your classroom!