In God’s Classroom

“Lord, teach us to pray.”
Luke 11:1 (NIV)

Last week marked the beginning of the 2026-27 academic school year for most school systems across the state of Alabama. High school football season officially also begins this week. New beginnings are usually filled with preparation, anticipation, excitement, and a little bit of fear and anxiety for all concerned, including teachers and parents!

As a child, I spent every school year beginning with a restless night prior to the first day of school. My thoughts were usually a toxic combination of anticipation, excitement, questions, fears, anxieties, and insecurities. They all combined to ensure a sleepless night!

I’m not sure who King David was praying for when he penned the words to Psalm 20, but 3000 years later, I am using his words to pray for anxious kindergarteners, adolescent middle schoolers, teenage high schoolers, and young adult college students who are facing a new school year with its many new challenges, opportunities, and uncertainties. Psalm 20 is also a great prayer to pray for their teachers, worried parents, and grandparents!

May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; (v1)
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you. (v1)
May He send you help…and grant you support. (v2)
May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your offerings (v3)
May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. (v5)
May the Lord grant all your requests…. (v5)
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God…
O LORD, save… Answer us when we call! (v9)

King David’s words penned some 3000 years ago have seen our family through CPA exams; minor league baseball batting slumps; college scholarship interviews; job searches; multiple miscarriages; grandchildren’s births and adoptions; as well as James Bruce’s residential placement and death. Those petitions aren’t a prosperity driven “name it and claim it” gimmick. They are instead a desperate plea asking God to hear us when we cry out in distress and to do what only God can do: save us!

The book of Psalms is Israel’s book of prayers. The best reason to pray is because God is there to hear us. He knows our hearts (1 Samuel 2:3) and He knows our needs (Matthew 6:32).  He is a good, good heavenly Father and a much more God (Matthew 7:11) who tells us to pray (Matthew 7:7).

We won’t be able to solve all our loved ones’ problems, but we can pray to the One “who answers prayer the way we would if we knew what he knows.” (Tim Keller) Our job is to ask; His job is to answer. As you ask, don’t forget the one prayer that never fails: “Thy will be done!” (Matthew 6:10)

Lord, teach us to pray!