My Prayer as a Teacher

Dear Father,

Thank you for the opportunity to touch young lives daily. Father, help me to touch their hearts and lives in the way you'd want me to. Help me to show them the lighter, brighter side of education. Give me patience, dear Lord, to understand them and to reach them without hurting them. Bless me with wisdom to make the right decisions to positively impact their lives. Father, help me remember that in the midst of curriculum and schedules and all sorts of necessary evils, that I have been blessed with 26 of your most precious children -- even when they don't act precious, and even when 26 feels like 126. Help me treat them with the love and respect to which they are entitled, because they are yours. At the same time, Father, give me the wisdom to know when to push them to achieve more. I never want to let them get by with little -- help me encourage them to achieve much. Help me remember to laugh and stretch with them, to play them music and sing with them, to give them time to talk and draw and play, while challenging them to read, write, listen, think, problem-solve, do math, observe, question, reflect. . . . Help me know when I am expecting too much and when I am not expecting enough, and to fix it. Father, please strengthen me with your Spirit to shine your light as I strive to do my job. Help me to remember this calling came from You, and that it is You I represent. Lord, please forgive me when I fall short of my calling -- lift me up and help me do a better job every day than the day before. And Lord, one day in the future, if I see my former students in a new setting, if they do not remember me, I hope at least they will remember the lessons of life I taught them. Help me to remember that it is life I am preparing them for -- not a test -- and to teach them accordingly. Give me the strength to stand up against the system when it is not in the best interest of my students, and to realize my own weaknesses as an educator and seek to better myself constantly. Father, rid my Spirit of the human nature of competition and peer pressure and to allow Your Spirit to fill me completely.

Father, bless my students and help them to learn to listen and learn and practice and grow. Help them to be successful and to understand, so that they are ready for all the challenges that come with 3rd grade. . . .middle school. . . .high school. . . college. . . .life. Keep them safe, and put your protective arms around them. Help them know how much I love them, if not today, then one day in the future.

Bless our school and help it grow in its challenge to educate all our students and prepare them for life. Bless our administrators -- help them lead us wisely and make positive decisions for staff and students alike.

Through the name of Jesus, Amen.