On Prayer in Schools

From time to time, the issue of prayer in public school comes up in discussion, or in a random Facebook post, or some other place. It is a touchstone among many Christians and Christian groups that points to the moral and spiritual decay of the American society.

As a Christian, I believe in prayer. I also believe in the right to pray which cannot be revoked, regulated, restricted by anyone. In fact, I hereby confess that I did, on numerous occasions, offer prayer while a student in a public school, even though official prayer in public schools had already been discontinued. In fact, I regularly prayed in school. Especially, but not necessarily only, before exams. In fact, I frequently prayed a prayer that went something like this: “Dear Lord, and Heavenly Father, please help me on this test today to remember the things that I learned, and help me put them down correctly on this test form. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” (Or words to that effect). I suspect that nobody around me had any idea that I was actually praying at the time. I wasn't noisy about it. Call it "stealth prayer" if you want to. The Person to Whom I was talking heard me just fine, and that's what mattered, then and now. Should I expect the FBI, or even the NY State Board of Regents, to launch an investigation surrounding allegations of unauthorized and illicit prayer while a student in a public school?

The above, of course, is written in an ironic tone, though it is factual. Prayer is not illegal. Prayer cannot be suppressed. So what’s all the noise about prayer in public schools?

Oh, I see. There is no official, formal prayer offered at the beginning of the school day over a public address system by a school administrator or designated representative. Or even a moment of silence to allow time for students and faculty to pray if they so choose. Does that stop a Christian from praying? If it does, that Christian doesn’t really want to pray very badly.

I wonder how many advocates of putting prayer back in public schools really understand what they’re asking for. Who will offer the prayer each day? Will they make the prayer up extemporaneously, write it out the night before, or read it from a book of prayers? Will the book of prayers be pre-approved? If so, who gets to approve the book of prayers to be used? The Superintendent of Schools? The School Board? The State Board of Regents? A Blue-Ribbon Commission appointed by the President of the United States to study and approve prayers acceptable for use in public schools? I'm sure that there are any number of pastors and other religious leaders who would be glad to volunteer to write prayers for use, or better yet, come to schools and offer the prayer themselves, in person!

C’mon, here. Think it through. Do you want to be told when, where, how, and to Whom you will pray? Do you want this for your children? Do you want to let someone else decide this for you? They will, you know. How about at 5 specified times each day, facing in a particular direction, out-of-doors if possible, kneeling on woven mats, bent over and touching one’s forehead to the ground, and reciting a memorized litany of sentences? Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) were sentenced to death in a fiery furnace because they WOULD NOT pray when they were ordered to pray to an idol (Daniel 3). Daniel was sentenced to death in a den of lions because he WOULD NOT STOP praying when forbidden to pray to his God (Daniel 6). In both cases, God protected His faithful followers and did not permit them to come to harm. Sounds like God takes the matter of prayer—when to pray, how to pray, and to Whom we pray—rather seriously.

No. We don’t need to legislate to put prayer back into public schools. That is not going to fix what is broken here. People do not need permission to pray. What we DO need is the willingness TO pray. We need to teach our children to pray any time, anywhere, and using whatever words are appropriate for the occasion. We need to show our children that prayer works. We need to model what it means to be prayerful.   Maybe what we do need is for parents to learn how to pray, so that they can teach their children. We don’t need prayer in public school NEARLY as badly as we need prayer in private homes!

And while we’re at it, let’s bring prayer back into our churches, too.