Teach The Practice of Prayer

When my son, Noah, was in elementary school he went through some trying times. School is a tough place for kids to be at one time or another. As he was leaving for school, I stopped him and prayed for him. I confess that I probably did not do this as often as I should have. But in the prayer, I asked God to put angels around him to give him a sense of protection and security. When I finished praying, before he left Noah turned to me and said, "Dad, I'm not too sure about all that angel stuff at school!" And he ran off to school.

As long as there are tests in school---there will be prayer. It is not an original thought for me. I heard it one day in Dallas when there was a great debate going on about prayer in school.

A parishioner was talking one day about how we used to pray each day in school over the loud speaker. The ritual was Pledge of Allegiance followed by a prayer (I always wondered about the order of those two!) For some schools, the prayer was the Lord's Prayer. In other schools, a student or teacher would say the prayer. The parishioner was lamenting the fact that this ritual was no longer allowed in schools. So I asked him, "Do you pray with your child before she leaves for school each day?"

I have learned as a pastor that some questions really irritate people, especially the questions that put us on the spot. He looked at me as if there was no connection between the two thoughts. He was dumbfounded. So I asked the question again. Silence.

"So let me get this straight. You are complaining that the education system is not allowing your child to practice that which you are free to practice and even instructed by the Bible to practice in your home and you fail to do it."

So here's the deal. If we, as parents will teach and practice prayer on an active basis in our home, then prayer in public places will not be an issue. The practice of prayer will become a regular part of the child's human relationships. The child will pray for teachers. The child will pray for friends and neighbors--maybe even enemies! But it starts at home.

This Sunday, many churches will bless bookbags and have prayer for teachers. At The Well, we will make each child a bag tag. On the tag, will be the logo of the church with their name on it. On the other side of the tag, there will be a prayer. We are instructing our parents each day to pray the prayer with their child(ren) as they leave for school. I want to imagine in my head that one day as things are hurriedly being gathered for school departure that a child will scream, "But mom and dad, we haven't prayed today!"

I urge college kids to make sure that they have a grandmother praying for them. If you are a young adult and do not have a granny prayer going up each day, FIND a granny who will pray for you. I am convinced that grandparents have a special line to God.

Pray with your kids. Let them hear the prayers of your heart. Teach them to pray by example. Then wherever life takes them, the practice of prayer will follow.