How to Pray for My School - a Guide for ParentsSample

EVICT

Devotion

According to the Merriam Webster’s dictionary, the word evict means to “recover property from a person by legal process” or “to force out," and there isn’t a better word than this in our modern context as it relates to praying for our schools. We are called to evict the negative influences in our schools.

When you read verse 17 of Luke 10, a certain degree of joy and excitement erupts in our hearts. Jesus Christ, our King and Savior, has imparted authority to His followers. This authority is not our authority, as if it is intrinsic to us, but it is the Lord’s very own authority. He allows His disciples to act on His authority. We ought to remember this when praying for our schools and the next generation. If we are in Christ, we have authority. We are always to pray in the Lord’s Name, for only His Name generates an eternal response.

But how does this apply to interceding for our schools? We are, first of all, called to intercede for our schools and our children because that is Christ’s heart. His mission was to proclaim the Kingdom of God, and so it is ours as well. Whatever we do, and whatever we attempt, our main goal should be to proclaim Christ’s victory and for His Kingdom to come. We measure things in our culture and in our environments against this one criterion: does it produce or reflect Christ’s character? That is the only measure we ought to use, for if something (say a worldview) fails to align with Christ’s character, that thing stands in opposition to us. We don’t oppose things, because in Christ we have victory. Whatever is not in Christ stands in opposition with what is.

But for us to effectively disarm these opposing ideologies, we are called to act in the authority of Christ, for only His authority is sovereign over all. I am not implying that we are sovereign if we are in Christ; I’m saying that if we direct our attention, thoughts, prayers, actions, and desires to the will of God, I believe He will move with His sovereign authority in the areas we're in and change them! This is what the seventy-two experienced in one of our Scripture passages for today. They entered various cities and saw that the evil spirits there were subject to them because Christ commissioned them to those areas (Luke 10:1-20).

Ephesians 6:10-20 is a very well-known portion of Scripture and with good reason. Paul informs his readers that they are not in opposition to flesh and blood but rather in opposition to spiritual principalities in the heavenly places. I believe he notes this because we perceive the world mostly through our five senses and other experiences. When we experience opposition or conflict with an organization, we tend to direct our emotions at a specific person (or group of people). We forget to differentiate between the person, for whom Christ died, and the thing (spirit) influencing them.

It is important for us as Christians to stand in the gap on behalf of our children and their schools, especially in opposition to the forces influencing them. We are to declare Christ’s full and final sacrifice over them, for only Christ’s Spirit and victory can positively change things. In Ephesians 6:12 Paul is listing the various enemies that we are opposing. He explicitly says our battle is not against ‘flesh and blood’ (human beings), but against rulers, authorities, world rulers of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Paul leaves no room for debate; the word "rulers" refers to those spiritual beings executing illegitimate authority in the world. We need to keep this in mind when interceding and acting on behalf of our schools and children. Spiritual influence is real, but the Lord has given us authority over them (Luke 10:17-20).

When you pray:

Pray that the Lord will establish and advance His Kingdom, especially in our schools and in the next generation.

Pray that school pupils will be sanctified for His glory, honour, and praise; that they will be ‘Kingdom agents’ who will carry out His will in their schools.

Share this wonderful eternal truth with your family: that God has given us victory in Christ and that we act in His authority and on His behalf!