How To Pray For Our Teachers

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This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. Welcome to Truth Talk Live.

I'm Dwayne Carson, and it's my joy today to Post A very exciting show as we're going to be talking about how we can. Impact our culture by impacting How can we do that? By praying for our teachers. And listeners, whatever church you're in, I have to believe you're in a church that has teachers. Teachers who are teaching in private school, who are teaching in public schools.

And this kind of crept up on me. Here we are, August the 12th, and schools have started. They've opened the doors. And some schools are having open doors today and tomorrow, but others, classes, have already begun. And that kind of caught me off guard.

And this morning, I opened up my Facebook and I see a thing from Fellowship Church Ava Maria. It says, Let's be intentional about praying for teachers and students going back to school this year. And then they listed some verses and gave some ideas of how to do this. And well, I know who that guy is. The pastor of that church is none other than Tim Pig.

And Tim, we want to welcome you to Truth Talk. Talk live this afternoon.

Well, thank you, Duane. It's good to be on Truth Talk Live, and I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share about this important topic of praying for teachers and praying for students at the beginning of the school year.

Now you uh Oversee a school. Tell exactly what you do there, what school you're with, what church you're with. Yes, I'm the lead pastor of Fellowship Church. We're in Southwest Florida. We have two campuses, one in Ave Maria and a second in a town called Amacali.

And we started several years ago. We're entering into our Sixth academic year of Fellowship Academy. Uh we say that Fellowship Academy exists. To know God and to make him known through text-driven education. And we have had a wonderful journey with that, have a great faculty and staff and student body.

And it's just a wonderful extension of the ministry of fellowship church, which is to do text driven ministry so that believers are living a scripture driven, a Christ exalting, text driven life as well. And this past Sunday, because your school is now open, you as a pastor, You took time in the service to pray. For the teachers. Tell us about that. Yeah, we think it's important that as a church, We come alongside the members in their vocation.

It doesn't matter if they own their own business, they work in landscaping, they're a tradesman as a plumber, carpenter, or maybe they're a civil servant through I see teaching as that as well, law enforcement, fire department.

So, part of the responsibility of a church is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry, and that ministry happens outside of the four walls of the church. And one of the ways we wanted to equip and show our support for some of our members is by praying for them as they go back into the school system and are a witness for Christ in their Jerusalem and making known the gospel in the public schools, making known the gospel in private schools and classical schools. And to be honest with you, even moms making known the gospel in a homeschool setting. It's very important that every single teacher knows that their local church is coming right beside them to equip them, and they're with them through the whole school year. That's just awesome that you took time to do that.

And what we want to do out of this Truth Talk Live show is challenge people. Pastors who are listening, Christian church leaders, hey, if you haven't had a time yet to pray at your church service for your teachers, you need to dedicate a time this coming Sunday, the following Sunday, as students go back to these schools. Teachers are going in, and yes, they're Matthew 5, 16. They have an opportunity to shine as a light. And I would love to hear your story as a teacher of what it's meant to have someone praying for you, to hear from other pastors.

This is what you do, like Tim, to share with us. The number to call is 866-348-7884. And we would just love to sharpen each other today, encourage each other. The power of prayer, the power through prayer to encourage, because there's so many things, Tim, we can be doing. For a teacher, I served as a head of school, and I'm looking for those room parents who can come alongside.

But I'm telling you, one of the most important things was cultivating people who would take a teacher on and say, I'm going to be there. prayer partner this year. Um Thank you again for sharing this thought. I want to go a little bit more with bringing on a teacher, Christy Peterson, is a teacher in a Christian school. And Chris, we want to welcome you to Truth Talk Live today.

Yeah. Hi there. And tell us, Christy, where you teach and what you're getting ready to be doing this fall. Mm-hmm. I teach at a Christian school in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

And I'm going to be teaching. three different math courses this year. In the past you have taught in a public school. That's right. And then now you're teaching in a Christian school.

And then you've been listening to what Tim and myself have been talking about. How does this impact you as a teacher to know that somebody is praying for you? It's very encouraging, first of all, because there is. A lot involved in teaching as I think about getting back to it. I just have a lot of things on my mind.

There's things you have to do for the administration and things you have to do for your discipline and your classroom management and There's things you gotta do for your teaching the actual math. But I don't want to lose sight of the most important thing, which is building relationships with my students.

so that I can share the love of Christ with them. And doing that at a public school can be a challenge.

Well, Christy, if you'd let me just encourage you for just a second, I have a teacher in my church. Who has been teaching in the public school system for over 30 years? And at our Amakali campus, He was the one who voiced the prayer to the Lord. about praying for teachers. And before he did, he used to help guide his prayer this scripture.

And I hope it encourages you. It's John thirteen, thirteen, that says, You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash. one another's C. And what a wonderful perspective that gives to the start of the year.

That your responsibility of a teacher, yes, there's math standards to be met, and there's a desire that students do well in that subject matter. But your primary responsibility in teaching, like Jesus had his primary responsibility as a teacher, was to be a servant and wash the feet. of your students. And what a wonderful Way that puts into perspective. You've got kids who, Lord willing, they do well at the beginning of the school year, but if they don't, as long as you're washing their feet, it's not a reflection on your teaching, for the Lord is going to judge you based on your service, not your teaching.

Now, we're going to go to a break. The number to call is 866-348-7884. Give us a call. You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.

I'm Dwayne Carson. I have a ministry called Date the Word, and part of Date the Word is getting scriptures out there for teachers to use. Any teacher who wants to give a birthday verse to one of their students can go to the Date the Word app. We have a verse for Any date, and you can share that with your student. And as we today are thinking about boy, school has started again, and teachers are headed back, students are headed back, some are already.

In those classrooms, we want to think about how we can be a blessing to them as believers and in churches. How can we be a blessing to our teachers serving in the school systems? And as Tim Pig down at Florida, there has been sharing with us: it's not just the public school or the private school, even the home school. We have teachers at all different levels doing so many different ways of communicating academic information but biblical truth. And we'd love to hear your story about as a teacher what it means to have someone praying for you.

You can call us at 866-348-7884. We've got Mallory. Uh Hi Mallory, how are you? Hey, how are you? Doing great, thank you.

Yeah, talk to us about what you do as a teacher.

Okay, so I teach at Rusburg High School in Rusburg, Virginia, and I am a general education special education teacher.

So I basically teach the guys who have some struggles with reading and writing. And sometimes we have some BIPs, which is our like behavioral plans and some things like that as well.

So my job is to go into the classroom and push in and support our lower guys. What an incredible role. When I was head of school, I stressed the importance of a teacher knowing their subject. But I had to also stress it was important for the teacher to know their student because students have so many different needs. They're unique and they have learning challenges.

And how do we meet those learning challenges? What a role that you have.

Now, you've been listening in as we've been having a chance to talk with Tim, with Christy. Thank you for your call. How does the fact that a church would be coming alongside? Praying for you impact your daily routine. I feel like it just really just like just kind of sets our soul at ease that like we are being prayed for because I think teaching today is completely different in the public school setting.

as it was. maybe even 10, 20 years ago.

So it's just knowing that we have someone praying for us and looking out for us. is really, really huge.

So we appreciate that. No. What would you tell a pastor about this coming weekend as far as schools opening? Would you be giving them a challenge to have a special time of prayer? Yes, we actually started today.

So we had our first day of school today. And I definitely would just ask that you just continually pray for us. We just have a lot of students with just apathy. There's just no care. And no motivation.

So, for us as teachers to just really continually. Stress just how important they are and how much we care about them and how important it is to be educated in our society, not even college-bound, but just like to be able to work, right? You know, so continually being a positive light to these kids because they don't have that at home.

Well, as many people listening would know, if they know my background, they knew I worked at Liberty University for years. But then I came to Salem, went to Salem, and was the head of school at Salem Baptist Christian School. And I knew, I did know that teachers had a difficult job, but I had no idea that it was as difficult as I had ever imagined until I got into that role and saw the labor of love. And that's what it was. It's a labor of love that a teacher's doing, but it's heavy lifting.

And here you get ready to teach, and then you got a student that they don't want to learn and they don't care to learn. And you've got to come in every day fresh and motivated and with a great attitude. And so there's just something about having prayer support, having those prayer partners. To let you know you are making a difference, and sometimes that difference isn't seen for years. But to be able to go in there, I just am so thankful for teachers.

Tim, you might want to weigh in on what I've been talking about here. Yeah, absolutely. I I think one of the things we attempt to do at Fellowship Church is and I would encourage pastors to do, and I think both of the teachers who have called in would appreciate this, if a local church would adopt the teachers at a local school. in their community, I think it would be an enormous support system to them and an evangelistic outreach that gives opportunity for the already Christian teachers in the room to be alike.

Now what does it mean to adopt? It could be simply once a quarter. These are several options. One, once a quarter. you sponsor lunch for the teachers.

And you provide lunch to them. Another thing to do, if they're paid every two weeks, Get their fa find out what their favorite candy bar is. And on the Friday of their paycheck, you make sure that every teacher gets also a special dessert treat on the day that they're paid. And that's just with a with a kind note. And Pastor, you have members of your church, senior adults.

This is a great way to mobilize senior adults. It's also a great way to mobilize your kids' ministry to be writing thank you cards to these teachers that can coincide with that dessert on payday, that can coincide with the meal that you share for them. Offer to host the training, the teacher training, the in-service training at your church. Instead of having it on campus, another incredible option is when they're putting in grades, that's the day you show up because it's a workday on campus, kids aren't there, but that's the day you show up with the food. And don't do peanut butter and jelly and ham and cheese sandwiches.

Go all out, get some fajitas, get some good hamburgers, cater a great meal like you would at a church potluck, and love these teachers and administrators. And you'll see what happens when you get that foot into the school system. You start loving teachers. They know you care more than just on the first day and on the last day of school.

Well, I've got to interject here and say to our listeners, what I love about what Tim has said. is this is his church and challenging churches to reach out, even though he himself has his own school. The church has a school, but Even though you may have a school, You still reach out to the public schools around you. Don't be isolated. And Tim, you reached out last year to a football team.

Absolutely. Yeah, we for the last. 10 years, we have sponsored the Amakley High School football team. We provide their pregame devotions. I meet with their players once a week during the school year, during the school day, over lunch.

Our church has supported them with meals in the past after practice. We have done several things for them in that way, and it's made a massive impact. Actually, this Sunday, we're doing kickoff Sunday. The entire football team's coming to church, and we're going to pray for them to have a healthy season. The head coach is going to share with us and we're making an impact.

We'll have forty five football players and their families at the altar being prayed for by the congregation, all because we started ten years ago making an investment in the school system. We can be white. To our communities by being intentional. And that's a word you used today on Facebook. Let's be intentional.

Tim, thank you for your call today and thank you for your insights. If you want to, others want to call, 866-348-7884. You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. I'm Dwayne Carson.

It's my joy to be your host today. And we're talking about praying for our teachers as they make their way back into the classroom. Yes, we want to pray for the students and we want to give challenges to the teachers to pray for their students. But today, we want to pray for teachers and we want to give that challenge that you would be praying for your teachers. And we still have on the line Christy Peterson.

She's up in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. She teaches in the town Chambersburg. Uh Cumberland Valley, and as she's teaching middle school there, I'm going to throw some questions to her. And again, you, as you listen, you may have some ideas also. We'd love to have you contribute to our conversation today: 866-348-7884.

But when we think about what a teacher needs from a prayer partner, Christy, what are some things that you would want someone praying for you as they do lift you up to the Lord as you serve as a teacher?

Well, I think praying for me to have wisdom. discernment In all the many decisions I have to make throughout the day, that's huge right there, isn't it? Yeah. Solomon Said to the Lord when he was given the opportunity to ask God for anything, he said, I need wisdom. And I think, you know, when.

As I've worked with different years of school, each year you get a whole new set of circumstances, a whole new set of students. And Solomon said, I need wisdom because your people, they're too great for me. There's too much here. I need wisdom. I need that discernment.

As we talked with Mallory, there's going to be students who are going to have sometimes different learning challenges that we've got to come alongside and figure out how do we meet those challenges for them? How do we provide ways for them to learn? Because not everyone learns the same way. All right. What are some other areas you have found yourself having to deal with needing discernment?

Uh in my time management. You know, knowing that I have a lot to accomplish and I have to prepare and I have to grade and Take care of my family, and so just in being wise and discerning how to manage my time. Have you ever prayed the prayer that Joshua prayed for time to stand still? I'm thinking you probably have. There have been times, yes.

Many teachers find themselves starting early in the morning and going late at night. When I was head of school here at Salem Baptist Christian School, one of the things that I tried to do was do some things for the spouses of our teachers because I knew During the school Time. Many times teachers were doing 15 hours, starting early in the morning, grading late at night, and then again, getting prep ready for the next day. And I always thought, you know, the spouses of a teacher also needed to be commended and celebrated. And so every now and then we would do some things that were very special for our spouses.

Oh, yeah. Kind of Going with what Tim said, that would be something for churches to consider. How can they, you know, maybe just provide a meal or two for their teachers who are going back to school? It's a big switch when they have to start at the beginning with Not knowing their students yet and setting up their routines, and if they would just consider. Making a meal for 'em.

That could be a big blessing.

Now Folks, as you're listening, give us a call, 866-348-7884. Love to hear your ideas on how we can. Come alongside and help teachers, how to pray for them, how to be a blessing to them. School is opening again, and we want to be a blessing. Christy is sharing some ideas with us right now.

I as a as a head of school, I have to say One of my great, great blessings was the fact that I had uh s school board chairmans that prayed for me and um That led them for me to be praying effectively, fervently for my teachers, my administration. But I had school board members, and some of you listening, you may be serving on a school board. Never Underestimate the power of prayer and giving words of encouragement, letting people know that you are praying.

So we talk about Christy having this idea of Lord, give to the teacher wisdom. discernment um Uh you gotta Manage your time. You don't get more than 24 hours in a day. You got to make the most of the time, redeem the time, and there's going to be interruptions. There seems to be something about.

Students getting in trouble at times that are not at the very best moment for getting in trouble. Right. Not convenient. Yeah, we need, I was always praying, Lord, give our teachers the wisdom on how to do discipline. Is that an area that you've ever found the need for wisdom for?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Knowing what to address, how far to address it, Appropriate consequences. Appropriate consequences. That's a big one because there's going to be people who want mercy.

The person who's done the deed will want mercy. But there's also others who will want mercy. But then there's others who want. We heard a sermon this past Sunday where John and James, they wanted to call Fire down from heaven and destroy people. And sometimes I found that when one of my students would make a bad decision, yes, not just silly or stupid, but sinful decision, I had people who wanted me to.

Call the fire of God down on them and trying to find out what is the appropriate. One of the things we teach with date the word is you got to be disciplined to do discipline. Yesterday's Bible verse, Ecclesiastes 8:11, if you don't Carry out discipline in a quick, speedily way, an efficient way, it will cause the hearts of those who are disobedient to become more disobedient. And so, I want to give them a chance. I want to give them an opportunity, which is crucial, but at the same time, if you're letting them get away with it, they may start getting it in their heart.

I can keep getting away with it.

So, wisdom for how to do Discipline. Um What about The area of uh your own personal example. How important is your example to a student? I think that the example that we set is everything. They're not going to listen to a word that we say.

If they can't see that we're living it ourselves, and they're paying attention. They might act like they don't care. What you're doing, but they're paying attention to it. And Tim Melmore says: you know, we try to teach what we know. but we're really reproducing who we are.

And that they're going to watch and imitate our actions far more than our words. Mm.

Now You used a name there that I recognize, Dr. Tim Elmore. For years, it has had a ministry called Growing Leaders, and it's a huge ministry to teachers, not just Christian schools, but public schools. And what a statement. I remember hearing Tim say that we.

We try to teach what we know. And I liked how you said that. We don't just teach what we know. We try to teach what we know. But then we reproduce who we are.

And. Uh our life speaks louder than our lips or our lessons is one of the statements I've used. Our life speaks louder than our lessons. And um It it's just crucial. that as teachers, uh we we have character.

Character that should be contagious. When a teacher is doing that which is right, then a student can say, Okay, I see someone who's living it out and they're doing what is right. And I'm telling you, even more so for teachers in the public school, you don't want to be a hypocrite there. You definitely want to shine bright. If a teacher starts cutting corners, if a teacher starts, you know, they tell a lie, that's going to lose, that's going to cause them to lose all kinds of credibility.

Now, yeah, also with our attitudes. it's it's easy to complain and be negative, but That's not what we're called to. And so being an example with our attitudes. You're pulling from a verse that maybe many. of our listeners would recognize first Timothy 4:12 says, Let no one despise your youth.

And I always told my teachers, I said, I don't care how old you are, you're working with young people, so you yourself are young. But be an example to the believer in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit. That's the attitude, in faith, and in purity. Um. As I pray for teachers, that's one of the areas I I do center a lot of my prayer time on.

Lord, help them to be an example. Help them to know that what they do Matters even more than what they say, and that as they are out there. Uh they never know. They never know when they are really, really, really being watched. And how that becomes contagious.

We're going to be going to a break. We need your calls: 866-348-7884. Love to hear some thoughts you have about how a teacher can be prayed for and encouraged. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.

I'm Dwayne Carson and we're talking today about praying for teachers. And uh We're learning from Christy Peterson. We've learned from Mallory. We've learned from head of school pastor Tim Pigg that our teachers need prayer. Prayer.

They're in Uh, in some ways, we would call a zone where Satan is fighting. Um It's intense. There's a lot of work. It's hard work. They're trying to impart information that many times students don't understand why they need it.

Christy is a math teacher. I have to believe she's been asked thousands of times, why do we have to learn this? And it can become discouraging. It can cause one to wonder, why am I even showing up here? Yet, here's what we know.

Teachers are the ones through the years who have shaped our future. They shape a parent. They shape a worker in the workforce. They shape leaders. People look back on their teachers and who poured into them, made a difference.

I've thrown out the question many times. Uh, tell me who your first grade teacher is, and almost always a person is able to tell me who their first grade teacher was. Mine was Miss Mitchell, and I still can see her, remember her. And uh, I don't know all exactly what she would have taught me in the first grade, I just know she was instrumental in my life of getting started. We didn't start back when I was younger with kindergarten, we started with first grade, and uh, Mrs.

Mitchell was a difference maker. Uh, so if you're listening right now and thinking, um, I have a story about how a teacher impacted my life, and and I want to challenge others to on praying for them. Give us a call, 866-348-7884. Um, uh, Christy, we're thanking you for your time right now. Um, just curious again, uh, if As we think through, what are ways that listeners need to know from someone who's in the trenches, how can they be praying for their teachers?

Also, letting them know that you are praying for them is important, that you're praying specifically for their wisdom and their time management and the other things we've discussed, but that you let them know that you're praying for them. That's encouraging, it's inspiring, it keeps us Grounded that we know why we're doing what we're doing. But what do you think what are some good verses to kind of guide us while we're looking to do these things.

Well, the other day, I appreciate that question to me. I said to a person who was getting ready to be going back to school, I said, I am praying for you, praying specifically. And she prayed. Up and she said, What exactly are you praying? And I said, Well, I always like to pray for a teacher praying Deuteronomy 32, verse 2.

Deuteronomy 32, verse 2 says, Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I find that to be one of the best prayers to pray for a teacher who really, you know, you want to make a difference. You want the information to soak in, if you will, whether it's history, math, science, Bible, whatever that subject is, you want it to get into their minds. And the picture that comes from Deuteronomy 32 is that of falling rain. And it's not that hard rain, that beating rain.

It's not a downpour, but the rain that falls. And it even gives the picture of dew. And when you get up in the morning, here in North Carolina, many times you get up in the morning and there's dew. On the grayest.

Well, it didn't just drop on the ground. It fell on the ground. It came softly upon it. And then the scripture continues on like showers on new grayass, which again, uh If someone is harsh with new grass, if you go out like with the water hose and you just start spraying so hard on that new grass, you're going to uproot it. Um as a teacher teaches to someone who doesn't know a subject.

Um They can't come across harsh, like, well, how could you not know this? The reason I showed up today is because I don't know. You know something I need to know.

So the idea of like a shower, but then there's. The verse says, abundant rain on tender plants. Uh, here's the teacher who has prepared. The teacher has come in to give the information that this student now will need for living life, to get skills for living life, for doing life, for making a living, but also living a life. There's not going to be a famine.

That's the idea. There's not going to be a famine. I just get, I love Deuteronomy 32, verse 2, and I would challenge pastors listening to highlight that verse. Teachers who are listening, know this. You are like rain, dew falling on students' souls so that they can flourish.

That would be one of the verses that I find as a go-to. Um and praying for for teachers. Deuteronomy 32 verse 2. What do you think of that? Is that that that am I am I hitting am I hitting the right nerve?

Is the hammer coming down on the nail squarely? Yes, that's exactly right. That gives the picture of consistency and Continuing and still gentle. When you said about, you know, I'm here to learn what you know. I had a professor in college.

He would do something on the board and look and say, Well, you should have learned this in first grade. And I can guarantee it's not math we learned in first grade, but he always made us feel a little lesser than because we didn't already know how to do it. Um That wasn't really the gentle Teaching that seeped in.

So keeping that in mind of considering the crop and the soil and Like the dew. No. Another verse that I have have referred to many times is Matthew 10, 16. Behold, I send you out as sheep. In the midst of wolves Well, I would have pitched her there Therefore be wise as serpents.

and harmless as doves. And um Uh Teachers have to stay under control. They can't. Be losing their head when everybody else is losing their head. That's the idea of that serpent there.

The serpent is wise to keep its head from being cut off.

Well, you know, Students do sometimes seek to provoke the teacher. And I do have some bit. unfortunate moments in my past of in grade school, high school, of doing those very things, especially when there was a substitute teacher um trying to um Irritate them.

Well, as a teacher, you've got to keep your head. But also, there is that component of Matthew 10, 16, harmless as a dove. Um hurting people Hurt Easy. And hurting people hurt people. And knowing the condition of your students and knowing that they could be struggling with certain issues, harmless as dove, I'm not going to make it worse.

I want to handle them with gentleness. And we do have that verse. It does speak about from the discipline standpoint, 2 Timothy 2, verse 24, but with humility. Uh with gentleness. you bring about correction and and you're seeking to help the person make the right decision for themselves.

We don't want to force someone into a conviction. We want them to grow into the conviction that it becomes their own.

So so Deuteronomy 32, 2, Matthew 10, 16, is there a what about you? Is do you have a go-to verse as you get ready to go back into the classroom?

Well, I like the verse that says that we should be diligent to know the condition of our Proverbs twenty-seven, twenty-three. Yeah. Uh be diligent to know. If I can give a challenge out there for you that may be headed back to teaching, just always remember the first no to know is their name. A name is a bridge to ministry.

Get to know their name. The quicker you can call them by their first name, especially. But first and last name, you have built a bridge. You're going to connect with them because they know you're caring. Our program is coming to an end.

I challenge you, pray for teachers. They desire it. They need it. And Christy, we thank you for your time today. Tim, thank you for your insights.

And this has been Truth Talk Live.