Someone told me that “God isn’t allowed in our schools anymore.” Is that true?

I understand the sentiment. In 1962, the Supreme Court deleted a teacher’s ability to lead students in prayer or promote Christianity. Institutions are now designed to inoculate children against “unhealthy” and “dogmatic” beliefs.

But isn’t God still omnipresent?

We can’t blame secularists for winning over our sons and daughters, when “Now I lay me down to sleep” is the last spiritual conversation our college kids remember from home. Patient, kindly instructors are committed to un-latching the door to a pupil’s soul to shape their worldview.

What can possibly counter a multimillion-dollar facility and staff who lace their instruction with provocative alternatives to the Christian lifestyle?

We applaud the brave Christian teachers who dilute the doses of secularism that textbooks deliver. But we cannot expect anyone to mentor our children like Mom and Dad. Grandpa and Grandma. Aunts and uncles. Family.

God supplies a tool specifically fitted to the hand of family members for protecting their kids, and it can be used to crimp off the lethal drip of secularism our children are absorbing. Using the tool is exhausting. Personal. Humbling, and uncomfortable at times.

It is as uncomplicated a tool as the whetstone, yet so efficient and precise that it might be utilized in repairing a single strand of DNA. Learning to use it will change the lives of your sons and daughters, as well as your own.

The tool is prayer.   

God braids a three-strand spiritual cord (God, you, and your children) with prayer. When the Apostle Paul tells us to “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thes. 5:17) he means that we must stay connected to God, and pray with sustained resolve.

Pray, not only FOR your sons and daughters but WITH them. Partner with your children and grandchildren in finding God’s direction on all kinds of occasions:

Before your son leaves for school: pray with him for protection and wisdom.

When your daughter complains about homework: Pray with her about receiving understanding.

When the kids pile into a car with friends: pray with them for safety.

When your “little girl” thinks she is in love: Pray with her that God protects her heart.

When your wild bunch brings home unbelieving friends: pray with them about their futures.

Stop the whole world and PRAY, anytime, anywhere. Be a force greater than peers, greater than teachers, and greater than hormones. Tell your children about you and God. Talk to God about them–while they stand on one foot, then the other, waiting for you to finish. Prayer in their presence speaks loudly that NOTHING outshines them.

When your sons and daughters take their first steps, pray with them. When they are college age, be a nagging intercessor that ignites truth and turns secular thinking to ashes.

They may stray from the path, but be assured, the echo of your intercessions will never leave their hearts.

“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Eph. 6:18)