A teacher sits at his/her desk at the end of the day. It is one of those days that didn’t go according to plan. Nothing seems to go right. We often write these days off as a loss, but God, through His grace and mercy, can redeem them. There is no such thing as a lost day if we take time to see it through the lens of thankfulness. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, reflect on what went right. It may be a small celebration or a triumphant victory. Start a gratitude journal to record these nuggets from the Lord; it will serve as an encouragement to you and a praise to God. Never leave school defeated; instead, be inspired by how God is working in and through you. Before you know it, you’ll see your students’ growth exceeding your expectations—and theirs. That’s how God redeems the time!

Every day. Every day, you walk through the doors of the school and into your classroom. You walk in with your dreams, disillusionment, joys, and heartaches. You hug your students at the door; you see your colleagues in a meeting; you connect with parents after school. You walk past people in your school each day and wonder if anyone sees you. The real you. The you that is hurting; the you that is processing; the you that is trying—with everything in your soul, trying. You may be wishing for someone at school to truly see you, or you may be desperately trying to hide your true self from others because you actually feel too broken to teach. But you cannot hide from God. No one is invisible to Him. God saw you before you were born; God saw the path of your life; God sees you now in this moment. And God sees all of you—your beauty and your pain. Let Him meet you exactly where you are. He put His light in you and He wants to help you let it shine! (Matthew 5:14-16)

If God had His way with your schedule, what would your day look like? What would be included? What would be omitted? God has an ordained plan for each day of your life that He wants to reveal to you. Unfortunately, we often get caught up in the “busyness” and challenges of the day and miss that quiet whisper of God telling us to slow down or shift our plans. To hear from the Lord, we need to create space in our day to listen for His voice. We need to be still so we can experience His presence in the midst of the countless decisions we make about our time each day. If we truly want to make the most of our time, we need to give time with God top priority in our schedules.

Greetings!

Time management is a phrase that produces an emotional response in teachers. We struggle with feelings of guilt and wrestle with tension between our work and personal lives.

Can we really manage time? Let’s face it, time moves on no matter what we do. We can’t make it slow down, go faster, or stop.

At the beginning of the school year, we look ahead and think that we have all the time we need to accomplish great things with our students. In the spring, we see that time is of the essence and we are running out of this valuable resource. We ask ourselves if we have done enough. We wonder if we have impacted our students in a way that will make a difference.

Instead of worrying about what we did or did not do, we can find comfort if we know that all of our work was done as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17, 23). We have no choice but to offer our best work if we are dedicating our work to Christ. It may not be perfect, but even with our best efforts, it’s God who makes our work effective (1 Corinthians 3:6). (O Heart, Vigilant and Sincere: A Prayer Guide Written for Teachers, by Teachers Volume 1, Teachers Who Pray, Inc.)

Please join Teachers Who Pray TWP as we continue to pray intentional prayers for teachers.

Using the Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication (ACTS) Prayer Model, this week's Supplication prayer will focus on report card conferences and discussions about student retention going well.

Please join Teachers Who Pray in implementing our Prayer Power for 15 minutes (1% of your daily minutes) for teachers on the Weekly Monday Evening Prayer Call 7-7:15 pm, CT.

Prayer is a powerful method of communicating with God, and during times of prayer, God can and does communicate with the one praying. The Holy Bible is the Word of God by which God communicates with us and is the standard by which we should test our plans and actions. Christian communication with God in prayer is a necessity. Pray in every situation (Phil 4:6), pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17), and pray without giving up (Luke 18:1). Educators continue to abide in God's presence with intentional prayers for your teaching practices.

Please join Teachers Who Pray as we continue to pray intentional prayers for teachers. Using the Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication (ACTS) Prayer Model, this week's Supplication prayer will focus on Teacher Observations, Classroom Walk-Through, and Teacher Burnout.

Please join Teachers Who Pray in implementing our Prayer Power for 15 minutes (1% of your daily minutes) for teachers on the Weekly Monday Evening Prayer Call 7-7:15 pm, CT.

In his humanity, Christ did not want to run the race the Father had set for Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he calls outright to God to take the task of dying on the cross away from Him. But the fact that Christ got off His knees and accepted His race shows us that supernatural faith wins, despite moments of human weakness. It is true that Christ’s humanness did not want to finish His race, but it is also true that His divine Spirit transcended his human anguish.

Christ finished the race because:

- His life was not about Him

- With a depth of patience and servitude that honored God in the midst of His struggle

- With discipline and commitment

- He knew, in faith, that there was great joy waiting at the finish line

- He knew that living sinlessly, dying unjustly, and resurrecting to life with all power would create a path for mankind to once again commune with God.

Christ is the ultimate role model for staying the course to victory! Please join Teachers Who Pray as we continue to pray intentional prayers for teachers. Using the Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication (ACTS) Prayer Model, this week's supplication prayer will focus on spring break and preparation for end of year tests.

We are the Champions!

When we started our race in Christ, we were promised the victory. Lean into that incredible reality as a Christian teacher. Every race has a finish line, and you are guaranteed the victory by our God if you don’t give up.

The resurrection of Christ has already won the race for you and has claimed a place for you in the winner’s circle. Run forward knowing that you will hear the cheering of glory and receive a crown to lay at His feet (Revelations 4:10-11; James 1:12).

In the end, the race of this school year is not yours to run for personal victory or gain; it is God’s victory and for His glory. Imagine the joy of walking into your classroom everyday with full confidence, knowing that the victory is already won.

That’s what champions do!

(O Heart, Vigilant and Sincere: A Prayer Guide Written for Teachers, by Teachers Volume 1, Teachers Who Pray, Inc.)

Please join Teachers Who Pray TWP as we continue to pray intentional prayers for teachers.

Using the Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication (ACTS) Prayer Model, this week's Supplication prayer will focus on praying for a decline in dangerous, disrespectful, and disruptive behavior; safety in schools and surrounding communities, (for example, school-aged children committing carjackings).

Please join Teachers Who Pray in implementing our Prayer Power for 15 minutes (1% of your daily minutes) for teachers on the Weekly Monday Evening Prayer Call 7-7:15 pm, CT.

The environment and climate necessary for effective teaching and learning is increasingly undermined by a culture of chaos such as laziness, lies, stealing, bullying, vandalism, unruliness, intolerance and other forms of school-based violence.

Educators experience substantially higher rates of depression than the overall population. Teaching is considered as stressful as working as an emergency room doctor; two-thirds of children in the U.S. are impacted by trauma, which can alter brain connectivity, function and structure — and physical and mental health into adulthood.

Feelings of grief and loss, irritability and anxiety become magnified as a result of having less daylight; In a school, the change of seasons means less time outdoors, arriving at work in the dark and leaving in the dark and less sunlight in your classroom, which may be overheated or too cold. Seasonal Effective Disorder

Using the Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication (ACTS) Prayer Model, this week's Supplication prayer will focus on lawlessness/criminal activity in communities by students, mental health issues-teachers/students and seasonal effective depression.