We have come together to offer prayers and words of encouragement for our students, teachers, administrators and families for the 2017-2018 school year. Please know that we love you are praying for you.
We hope that each of you you have a blessed school year!
A Teacher’s Prayer for Students
I am humbled, yet grateful for the students you will place in my care this year. Thank you for giving each of them ability to learn and to grow in wisdom and stature. I pray for peace in place of anxiety for each of my students as they each enter a new chapter in life. Remind me daily that they were placed in my care through divine providence, and not by happenchance. Help me to care for them, nurture them, and always see them through Your eyes.
I pray that you grant me wisdom in dealing with each one according to their individual needs. Help me to have the patience I need to help them through their struggles. Remind me daily of the grace You have given me, so that I may impart grace to my students when needed.
I pray that the students will find new levels of perseverance, motivation, and determination. Give them strength to overcome the temptations that come along with being a student. May those who have a relationship with You draw nearer to you throughout the year. Help them to reach out to their friends with Your love. For those who do not know You, may this be the year they discover Your love, mercy, and grace.
I pray for Your protection over the students of Sumter County. Protect them on campus, on the way to and from home, at sporting events, at home, on field trips, or anywhere else they go. I ask that your Spirit rest on each campus this year and help every student reach his/her potential.
In Jesus’ name
Amen
*Submitted by Lee Gandy
An Unforgettable Impact
by Travis Kinley
Teaching is an exceptional profession. It is one of the few professions that require people to spend such a large amount of time with other people. The average student attending 175-180 days in school, will receive approximately 950 instructional hours. Furthermore, it is one of the few professions that require someone to pour into the life of another. Truly, great educators have a gift made to teach.
And as the apostle Paul describes the importance of each part to one body, teachers play an essential role within communities. By pouring into students, they are helping us raise our next mayor, police chief, chemist, and more. The greatest of them all can remember a teacher who played a role in their lives. The impact a teacher makes on the life of a student is unforgettable.
Fall of 2017 is almost upon us, and we are getting geared up for learning. May you remember the children you teach are the future of the world. The police may keep order and the chemist may keep a laboratory, but you who are teachers keep a big part of the lives of our future. Teach our children what is right and true. Give them information that will help shape an informed worldview. While the harvest may not be immediately recognized, please know that you will never be forgotten.
New Mercies Every Morning
You leave your children to go teach mine. And as you work – teaching, planning, modeling the best behaviors, meeting each child’s needs in so many ways – your own children are never far from your thoughts. Are they napping? Did they eat well? Are they safe? Are they happy? I know. I know because I care for the children of a kindergarten teacher. At the end of the day, we will compare notes: “The baby had a diaper blowout,” I’ll say with a groan. You will look at me with tenderness and apologize and then say, “One of my students had an accident today, too,” and I will concede – you win. Teaching is hard, sometimes dirty work. You will be weary by the end of the school year, but proud to say all of your students are at or above grade level – because this is how we measure whether you’re doing a good job. It’s the things that can’t be measured that tell me you are a good teacher – like the time you bought a student a pair of shoes because hers were so big she couldn’t keep them on her feet. Some days you arrive at my door in tears – because you suspect a student is being abused at home, because you fear your student doesn’t have enough to eat, because you know a student’s heart is breaking over another deployment. Here, in my kitchen, I hear it all – the daily trials, the small successes, the frustration, the joy when a student finally gets it. Oh, teacher, you are truly doing the Lord’s work, showing the love of Christ to each child, extending grace over and over. You have new mercies every morning for each student (even that one who is hard to love). You don’t talk about your faith in class, of course, but you call on Him to help you, to give you patience and wisdom, to see you through another long day and you pray for your students. When you get home, your own children are hungry for your time and your attention and you for theirs. As I witness this sweet reunion each day I am reminded that a mother just like you has spent her day teaching my own child and I am so grateful for you and for her – for all the teachers who do the work they have been called to do. God bless you in this new school year. May your meetings be short and your patience be long. Amen.
A prayer for parents from a teacher
Father, I come to you eager to begin the new planting season you have blessed me with. Lord, thank you for this crop of students to care for and fresh minds to cultivate.
Thank you for the parents who have entrusted me to tend to their children. Lord, be with them as they nourish their plants and reinforce the seeds of learning at home.
Father, help parents model success and failure with grace. Lord, help parents understand the expectations presented at home spill over into our classrooms at school.
Thank you Lord for supportive parents who will work in a concerted effort to develop this year’s harvest. Father, we are forever grateful for another opportunity to help parents and students as we all continue to grow together.
In your hands, Amen.
*Submitted by Ryan Shirah
I am a teacher
by Chris Edge
I am a teacher.
I wonder what my students need to be successful.
I hear them groaning “this is too much…we need more time.”
I see the worry in their eyes.
I wonder why they do not have more faith in themselves.
I predict their successes and failures-but without risk neither is truly possible.
I want them to believe in themselves and their fellow man.
I am amazed at their potential.
I am a teacher.
Teachers in ONE word
I asked my Facebook friends to describe teachers in ONE word. I hope you are encouraged and reminded by these words of the difference you make each day.
- Gifted
- Motivators
- Dedicated
- Creative
- Excellence
- Underpaid
- Patient
- Blessings
- Compassionate
- Giving
- Builders
- Encourages
- Resilient
- Optimistic
- Brave
- Invaluable
- Impactful
- Passionate
- Called
- Stewards
- Loving
- Caring
- Busy
- Amazing
- Heroes
- Servant
- Awesome
- Encourager
- Saintly
- Givers
- Godsend
- Professional
- Superheroes
- Intelligent
- Admirable
- Selfless
- Saints
- Family
- Nurturer
- Exceptional
- Dedicated
- Authentic
- Powerful
- Under-valued
- Empathetic
- Mentors
- Special
- Gracious
The next time you’re having a bad day, print this list and be reminded that this is how people really see you. I pray you are encouraged now and in the future.
*Submitted by Chris M. Moore
A Prayer For Our Teachers
Father, as the beginning of school nears, be with our teachers. Help those that know you shine brightly. May others want the joy and peace that only you can give.
Help each teacher to realize the difference that they make each and every day. For the difference they make in the life of that ONE child as they grow and learn. Help them realize they are indeed making a difference!
Give them patience and understanding as they help children that come from broken homes and horrible situations. Help them to love as you love.
Father help our teachers as they teach and help our children as they learn. Guide, protect, strengthen, comfort and remind them of your presence this coming year.
In Jesus name, Amen!
*Submitted by Chris M. Moore
What teachers made a huge impact on your life?
Which ones called you out as a leader, a good writer, a great artist or pushed you to become a better athlete or musician?
Your homework:
- Write down the names of those teachers that impacted your life.
- Write them a letter or card thanking them for the investment they made and the impact they had on your life.
- Mail or deliver the card to them.
Bonus:
Share about your teacher’s impact on your life via social media and use the hashtag #MyTeacherChangedMyLife
School Prayer Walk
by Laurie Hussey
Ever thought about doing a prayer walk? Prayer walking is a practice of intercessory prayer involving walking near, around or in a certain place. This can be done individually, in groups, as a church or as a community.
Since our focus is on school prayer walk, here are some of the things that you can pray about during intercessory prayer.
Pray for Students:
• First day fears
• Wise choice of friends
• Be a diligent student with a desire to learn
• Protection from harm
• Purity
• Be respectful to teachers, administrators, coaches, staff and peers
• Make wise decisions
• Christian student to be the light to non-Christian students
Pray for Teachers:
• Have patience
• Confidence in their teaching with excellence and creativity
• Protection
• Relief from stress
• That they know each student is designed individually and with a purpose
• Pray for God to provide them with strength, love, encouragement and passion for their students
Pray for Staff and Administrators:
(Principal, Assistant Principal, Office Personnel, Bus Drivers, Counselors, Cafeteria Personnel, Crossing Guards, Custodians, Nurses, School Board, and Substitute Teachers)
• Organization
• Unity among staff
• Be kind and loving
• To have servant hearts
• Leadership skills and knowledge
• Relief from excessive stress
Pray for Parents/Families:
• Financial wisdom
• Time as a family
• Families to love one another
• Families to be involved and volunteer
• Salvation
Prayer walking can happen anytime and not just as an organized event. Ever walk in your neighborhood and feel a need to pray? Pray for your neighbor’s families, health, struggles and salvation.
Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Prayer is the place for admitting our need, for adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. Prayer is the needful practice of the Christian. Prayer is the exercise of faith and hope. Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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