The use of prayer in our educational profession is likened to a guided missile that can be launched from anywhere on the face of the planet at any target. There is no defense against it. This week’s supplication prayers focus on teachers, counselors, social workers, and attendance during the winter holidays.

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Prayercast: Teachers Who Pray: For Teachers, Counselors, And Social Workers During Winter Holidays

Adoration. Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty Heavens. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound. Praise Him with lute and harp. Praise Him with tambourine and dance. Praise Him with strings and pipe. Praise Him with sounding symbols. Praise Him with loud clashing symbols. With our whole body, God, we praise You for who You are, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

We honor You, Master Teacher, by instructing our students with excellence and integrity. We glorify You, our friends of sinners, by proclaiming Your name to coworkers and giving You the credit for every good thing in our schools. For You, God, set in motion by example our pattern of work, enjoyment, and rest. You proclaimed Your work good, and we echo Your words as we declare Your work in our lives, our school, our students, our families, and our communities as good.

We are holy because You, Father God, are holy. We strive to live your sacrifices to You. Our daily toil is Your calling for us. We do it to serve You as Your followers. Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty for all that is in Heaven and in the Earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, Lord. You are exalted as head above all. To You, Father, be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of confession. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You to confess our sins to each other and to You and to pray for each other so that we may be healed. Your Word promises us that if we, Your people, who are called by Your name will humble ourselves, pray, seek Your face, and turn from our wicked ways, You will hear from Heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land.

Lord, we humble ourselves by confessing that You are God and we are not. When we consider Your Heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon, and the stars which You have ordained, what are we that You are mindful of us? We are not able to do anything without You. Lord, we confess that we have sinned. We have done wrong. We’ve opted wickedly and rebelled, even turning us aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Lord, forgive us for the times we desire that our will be done instead of Your will being done.

Lord, forgive us for taking Your grace and Your mercy for granted. We so often neglect to meditate on the fact that Your Son who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God, something to be used to His own advantage. Rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in an appearance as a man. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Jesus made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross. Click To Tweet

Lord, forgive us for wanting things our way on our timetable, the time that we think makes the most sense and the time that we think is convenient and beneficial for us, instead of trusting Your way, Your timetable, and Your process. Lord, we choose to have contrite hearts and not just say these prayers for others to hear. We choose to return to You, Lord, our God, because You are gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love, and You relent from sending calamity, which we truly deserve.

Father, we come near to You. We know that You will come near to us. We wash our hands of these sins and ask for help to purify our hearts and help us to stop being double-minded. We rejoice that as we repent and turn to You, Lord, that You take away our sins. We praise You, Lord Jesus, and pray in Your name. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving. 1 Chronicles 16:34, “Give thanks to the Lord for His good. His love endures forever.” Father God, we come to You boldly with thanksgiving in our hearts, in our minds, and in our words and actions. We thank You for this time to come together to pray to You, worship, and thank You. You are God alone. As we submit our thanksgiving to You, we know that You are worthy of it.

Father God, we thank You for covering us with the precious blood of Jesus. You have kept us in so many ways on so many days. You alone, Father God, are our refuge. We run to You and we are safe. We thank You that we are not alone. You have not allowed the weapons formed by the enemy to prosper. We thank You that You work all things together for the good of those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. We thank You for calling us to Your purpose.

Father God, we thank You for the season of Thanksgiving. We know that this is a hard posture that we need to have no matter what time of the year or the season of our life is, so we thank You for renewing us through the transformation of our minds In Jesus’ mighty name. We thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit when Jesus ascended to Heaven and that we have a comforter, a helper, and a friend in Him. We thank You for speaking to us through the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, convict, and shape us.

We thank You, Father God, for each and every student that You place in our classrooms. Even when we don’t want to feel very thankful for them, we thank You in advance for helping renew our mindset regarding them. Let us see them as gifts from You and people to help as You lead us on how to do that, how to teach them, and how to love them in the name of Jesus.

We thank You, Father God, for Your workmanship. You create masterpieces. Thank You that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank You that we are made in Your image, Father God. Thank You that You have anointed us to do this to teach others and help lead children and students in the way that they should go. You gave us authority and are helping us speak only what You would have us to speak, think only You would have us to think, and do only what You would have us to do.

We thank You in advance for forgiveness when we make those mistakes, Father God, and that we can come boldly to Your throne and ask for that forgiveness. We are well aware and eager to experience Your goodness, love, mercy, and peace that surpass all human understanding. Father God, we thank You that even in seasons of spiritual warfare, we know that weapons of our warfare are not carnal. You have not given us anything that’s going to cause us to fail. You have given us Your full armor so we are protected in all aspects.

We thank You that You have told us what each of these pieces of armor are. You have explained to us it is available for us to use because You are with us. You go before us, behind us, and all around us. There’s nothing happening in our lives that is a surprise to You, but even in Your goodness, Father God, when these things are happening, we know that they’re not going to overtake us. We know that, at the end is the day, You have the final say and not the enemy.

Father God, we thank You for creating safe schools and work environments not just for us but for students, parents, admin, and our coworkers. We thank You that everyone will turn safe, restored, and rested after Thanksgiving break. We will come back energized and still maintain a heart posture and a mindset and culture of thankfulness to You so that we can be that light to our students and show them how to be thankful as well. I thank You for this in the name of Your son, Jesus. Amen.

Supplication. Hallelujah. Praise Your name, God. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for protecting us in situations seen and from those unseen. Forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who transgress against us. We thank You for the goodness You have shown to us. Lord, as we pray one for another, we know that You hear us when we pray as we gather collectively. We intercede on behalf of teachers, counselors, and social workers.

Lord, help teachers as they lead their classroom to govern themselves as 1 Peter 5:2-3 states, as shepherds not domineering over their students but being examples to the flock and caring for and watching over the students whom they have been entrusted with. Lord, let not teachers conduct themselves in shameful ways in order to obtain personal gains.

In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus tells His disciples that leaders should not exercise authority over people. Instead, whoever wants to become great must lower Himself to be a servant. Lord, we ask that the teachers realize that in order to have success, serving others is the only way to lead with a pure heart, free of pride and arrogance. Lord, help teachers reset their minds, curriculum, objectives, and instructional assignments daily and discern which activities contribute to student achievement. Lord, show teachers how to encourage and support their students.

Jesus, thank You for the social workers and the unique role they play in our schools. Lord, give social workers strength and anointing, enabling them to give hope to those they are assigned to serve. We pray for a sense of calm over school social workers as they bring calmness and peacefulness to situations of need and crisis day in and day out.

We pray for social workers’ strength and confidence that can only come from You. Lord, we ask that You give social workers a heart of compassion, tenderness, and understanding. God, we ask that You supply social workers with ears to listen attentively to students and parents so that they can provide comfort and appropriate resources.

Lord God, we pray that each counselor will have the energy and fortitude to provide reassurance, advice, and assistance to every student in need. Lord, let the counselors find patience in missing countless struggling students. Lord, give counselors wisdom and knowledge about how to build trusting relationships with students. God, we ask that You equip counselors with the right coping skills as they, through the Holy Spirit, steer students toward a brighter future.

Lord God, provide teachers, counselors, and social workers with the much-needed rest for their mind, body, and spirit. Give them restful, deep sleep. May they take the time away from work to be social, spend time with their family, and do things which give them pleasure and happiness. We pray that students and school staff will continue to show up in the buildings. Lord, help parents to understand the importance of children coming to school regularly in Jesus’ name.

Lord God, we pray for Your continued protection over all who have assignments in schools. You are our hiding place, and under Your wings, we can always find safety. Protect us from trouble seen and unseen wherever we go and keep evil far from us. Your love and faithfulness along with Your goodness and mercy surround us daily so we will not fear whatever might come against us. Our trust is in You, God, and we give thanks to You for Your love and protection.

Thank You, Lord, for protection over our families, friends, employment, affiliate organizations, block, neighborhood, property, and all affairs we are involved with. We ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope of His calling and your eyes focus and clear so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparable great power for us who believe. We ask all of this in Your Son, Jesus’ name. Amen.