Pray for educators

I had a conversation in July with a Christian woman who was a librarian in a local public school. She told me about the squeeze being put on her and the other librarians concerning books they stocked on their shelves. Some parents actually came in and counted the number of books with reference to Christ, Christmas, and Christianity and compared that to how many books were available containing favorable references to other religions.

As we parted ways, I was struck with what I believed to be a warning and a mandate from the Holy Spirit. I sensed that now, more than ever, believers were to stand guard in prayer for our brothers and sisters in the education profession.

Things have changed a bit in the realm of the spirit since school doors closed in May or June. Tensions have increased all over the nation. In my area, children and teens are now being bused into other school districts due to the lack of accreditation of their home districts. Anxiety exists on both the sending and receiving ends. Pressure to accept lifestyle choices that go against biblical tenets has ramped up and is even a key component of curriculum in some places. Common Core, a government-sponsored, nearly nationwide, K-12 curriculum, is being introduced this year in schools all over the U.S. And we taxpayers, who foot the bill for all of this, have been told there is nothing we can say about it.

Within the ranks of educators exists a strong majority who embrace without question agendas of social justice. In a nutshell, social justice is the philosophy which insists that certain races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations are always the oppressed (the good guys), whereas other races, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations are known to be the oppressors (the bad guys). Because of this, all laws, regulations, rules, and behaviors must be modified and then enforced to correct the injustice of the oppressors. The lines of distinction in this worldview are rigid and more dogmatic than the Ten Commandments ever could be.

And yes, this philosophy is being taught to teachers and future teachers across the nation in universities, workshops, and professional development curriculum. I, myself, sat in on such demagoguery to find out that I, by virtue of being female, was among the oppressed, yet I was also an oppressor, an evil white American heterosexual Christian. Guess they were hoping I would rise up as an angry woman against my male oppressors, while at the same time genuflect and cower at the feet of non-Christian, non-American, non-white, gay folk whom undoubtedly I had so arrogantly oppressed. I spoke out at the time that I was not oppressed as a female, and the leaders of the professional development looked at me with stern pity. “Oh, but you are,” they maintained. “You’ve been oppressed all your life.” I guess my oppressor side had bludgeoned my oppressed side into supposing I was happy and content with my femininity. Go figure! And people wonder why mental disorders, confusion, and depression are on the rise in our time!

This is the philosophy permeating every lesson and program in most public schools and classrooms. It has even sneaked quietly into some private and Christian schools as well, tweaking curriculum to “keep up with the times” and to be socially relevant.

Into the mix traipse our unsuspecting little ones and youth all around the nation. Their minds and hearts are like blank slates upon which others will seek to write their agendas.

But not all instructors are blind adherents of the prevailing worldview promoted in public education. They are men and women called by God to make a difference in the lives of those young ones who they teach. These instructors may be in the system, but they are not of the system. Many are Christian; others are deeply patriotic Americans with a respect for traditional values; and all are concerned educators, seeking to right a capsizing ship, throwing out life buoys of honesty, integrity, sound instruction, and high expectations to the young ones under their training.

And I sensed strongly in my spirit, a few weeks ago in July, that these educators will need our prayer coverage. Pray for the teachers you know who attend your church or other churches. Stand in the gap for them to make wise decisions, to walk closely with the Lord, and to make a godly impact in their schools. Pray for the teachers and administrators in the lives of your children, grandchildren, and neighbors. Ask the Lord to move on their lives and hearts to hunger for truth. Pray that these adults will start to see through the philosophy dominating their profession and to have the boldness to reject its debilitating stereotypes of victimization. Pray for custom-made laborers to enter into their lives and to minister to them on a deep level. Know that every case in which light enters into the heart or mind of a teacher is one more defeat for the enemy. Recognize that every situation in which a believing teacher prays, behaves, and instructs according to the will of God, the purposes of Heaven will be promoted.

God may not be welcome in our school systems, but He cannot be kept out. When the people of God stand on behalf of our schools and their leaders, He will move.

I challenge you to pray for educators and to ask God to move in our schools this year. Through your prayers, may He frustrate the agenda of the enemy.

Dorothy