He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 ESV
Faith-based teachers come together to move the mountains in academia. This week’s Supplication prayers will focus on Teacher Burnout, “Checked-Out” Feelings of Staff/Students, and Staff Turnover. Let us join hand in hand and lift all our worries to Him who strengthens us.
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Listen to the podcast here
Prayercast: Moving Mountains With Faith: Praying Over Teacher Burnout, “Checked-Out’” Feelings Of Staff/Students, And Staff Turnover
We will be praying for about fifteen minutes. We will start with a prayer of adoration.
In Psalm 63:4, “I will bless You as long as I live.” “I will lift up my hands in Your name, Father God. We come boldly to Your throne with adoration on our lips, in our hearts, and in our minds.” Adoration is deep love and respect or worship and veneration. “Father God, we come to adore You simply for being who You are. We see over and over again in Your Word and in our lives who You are.”
“We come to You not to ask You for anything but simply to praise You for being who You are. God, You are so good to us and You gave us Your Spirit, the Holy Spirit that we may be led away from temptation and led to paths of righteousness that we may have discernment, be closer to You, be comforted, and be convicted as well.”
“You gave Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who shed His blood so that we can be saved and drawn back into connection and relationship with You, Father God, but I’ll have to go through all things that we would have had to go through without His ultimate sacrifice. We praise You, God. Because of Your selflessness, we have been saved through faith by grace.”
“When we look at the things that You have created, the air, sky, sunshine, moon, forest, trees, and animals, we see good things that You call into existence by speaking Your voice, Father God. We believe that You are who You say You are. You are our help. You formed us and knew us before we were even formed in our mother’s wombs.”
“You have plans for us. We even say that the plans that You have for us are for our good and to bring us hope in the future. You work all things together for the good of those who love You, who are called according to Your purpose. You are matchless in all of Your ways, and we thank You for being so intentional with Your plans, thoughts, words, and creations, Father God.”
“You see the beginning and the end because You are alpha and omega, beginning and end. You are outside of time. We praise and thank You for Your perfect and wonderful timing. Along with Your perfect timing comes Your perfect wisdom, Father God. We praise You for Your wisdom, and we submit ourselves to that wisdom, Father God. In wisdom and timing, there is no error because You are flawless.”
“You prune us and mold us more to please and be like You as we submit to You. We praise You for doing all that in Your timing with the wisdom that You have, Father God. We adore You because You are working things out, turning things around, and because You give us peace that surpasses all understanding. We continue to praise You for keeping us some things that were not meant for us, removing things not sent by You, and continuing to have Your hand in and on our lives as we continue to thank You for more of You and less of us. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.”
Prayers of Confession. “Abba Father, holy and gracious You are. We confess that our sins are too numerous even to name. That our intentions and thoughts as we were on our way to school were good but as our day progressed, God, we sinned against You in so many ways in which we are now ashamed.”
“Father God, we have given into the temptation of unkind thoughts, words, and actions that do not represent who we are as Your children. Lord, create clean hearts in us as we silently confess our sins to You now. Lord, it is only by Your mercy that we are united with Jesus, and in Him, we are forgiven. Thank You for renewing a right spirit within us and casting us not away from Your presence. In fact, Father, You welcome us. You call to us. You never forsake us nor leave our side.”
“Lord, You say in Galatians that when the time had fully come, You sent Your son born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons because You are sons. Because we are sons, God sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts. The Spirit calls out, “Abba Father,” so we are no longer a slave, but we are sons and daughters. Since we are sons and daughters, God, You have also made us Your heirs. Father, You are in our midst. Lord, You have named us Yours. It’s in Jesus’ name, in His redeeming name, we pray. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving. “Dear, heavenly Father, we come to You to give You thanks. This is the day that You have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. We come to You entering Your gates with thanksgiving and into Your courts with praise. We are thankful to You, and we bless Your name. We rejoice always, we pray continually, and give You thanks in all circumstances, for this is Your will for us in Christ Jesus. We praise You Lord with all our inmost being. We praise Your holy name.”
“We do not forget all Your benefits. You forgive all our sins, and You heal all our diseases. You redeem our lives from the pit and crown us with love and compassion. We thank You because every good and perfect gift comes from You. We give thanks to You, Lord, for You are good, for Your steadfast love endures forever.”
“Let all of us who are redeemed of the Lord give You thanks. Lord, You have redeemed us from trouble. Lord, we thank You for Your provision. We thank You for our health. We thank You for our families. We thank You for our friends. We thank You for our colleagues. We thank You for our supervisors. We thank You for our students. We thank You for the families of our students. We thank You for the challenges that bring us closer to You.”
Let all of us who are redeemed of the Lord give you thanks. Click To Tweet“We thank You for triumphs that we know are possible only because of You. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for prayer. We will rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks for Your son, Jesus Christ. Thanks be to You, God, because You give us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You that You are our strength and our shield. In You, in our hearts we trust. We are helped by You. All our days and with our mouths, we will give thanks to You.”
“Lord, we choose to rejoice in You always. We pray that our gentleness will be evident to all. You are near, Lord. We pray that You will help us not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present our request to You, God. Your peace which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Now, therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. Amen.”
“Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Praise Your name.” This prayer of supplication is dedicated to teachers who are feeling burned out, students and staff members who are feeling checked out, and people for one reason or another, who are leaving the school they’re at mid-year. “Father God, we are so thankful for all Your many blessings. We thank You for calling us to teach. Lord, teaching has become a struggle for many educators around the world, who feel beaten down in their careers as teaching.”
“Jesus told us that it was necessary for us to pray consistently and never quit and to give all our worries and cares to God for He cares about us. Lord, we know that in all things, You work for the good of those who love You and have been called according to Your purpose. Be with us in our teaching and learning environments. Father, we look to You to be our power when we feel powerless.”
“Lord, we trust in You because Your grace is sufficient for us, and Your power is made perfect in our weakness. Guide us to make decisions that will give You the glory. Please help us to be a life for others, especially our students, and brighten the path You have for each of us so we can do Your will. Holy Spirit, renew, rejuvenate, and reveal to us Your Word in new ways.”
Lord, we trust in you because your grace is sufficient for us, and your power is made perfect in our weakness. Click To Tweet“Most professions have a stop time, 9:00 to 5:00 job schedule. Lord God Almighty, it is so hard to find a stopping point with teaching as we have multiple tasks, which must be completed during, after, and before teaching every lesson. Jesus, we receive Your promise of strength to carry on. Lord, we come to You weary and burdened and seek You to replace the yoke of teaching responsibilities that feel heavy and unbearable.”
“Lord, we seek the yoke of Jesus on our shoulders, and You do the work with and through us with the intention of advancing God’s kingdom. Therefore, making our daily grind as Christian educators easier. Father, please fill our hearts with courage now by Your mighty Spirit. Fill them with Your strength so we may rise to every challenge and not grow weary. Fill us with Your wisdom so that we may be able to make good judgments when guiding and helping others.”
“Fill us with Your peace so that when stress and anxiety come, it would not overwhelm us. Fill us with Your joy so that the passion we have for teaching reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, music, technology, and physical education becomes contagious and spreads to our students. Lord God, we ask for protection during these difficult times. Help us to teach with patience and kindness in the spirit of the negative or toxic situations that arise in our teaching arrangements.”
“Father, give us the courage to face any challenges that come our way. Lord, we affirm Isaiah 40:31. We trust in the Lord to get fresh energy. We soar on wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary nor lag behind. We acknowledge that everyone we encounter in our school buildings is a child of God. Lord, as Christian educators, we are on a mission to do the work that Jesus would do.”
“We will love every person around us so hard they will be transformed. Lord, we change our thoughts and language outwardly and in our heads. That child is not just a behavior problem. He or she is a child of God and can be transformed through God’s love. Lord, we think the way Jesus would think, by striving to make a child loved in a world that aims to only tear them down and more fulfilling work than getting caught up in drama, stress, politics, and more.”
“Lord, we set our sights on the job Jesus called us to do, not the one the world burdens us with. Lord, we will write the lesson plans, teach the small groups, write the emails, and we will do it through the lens of advancing God’s kingdom by filling His world with people who have met Jesus and are transformed by His grace.”
“Lord, we accept and know that this is our true and real purposeful job.” Ephesians 1:18-19A, “I asked that the eyes of Your heart may be enlightened so that You may know the hope of His healing, of His calling, the riches of His glory, inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”