Prayer in School

This morning, I received an email much like a hundred others I have gotten over the past ten years. It was a petition to the President to reinstate prayer in the public school system. I would like to share my perspective on this very widespread concern among Christians.

Let me begin by relating a conversation I had a few years ago with my friend, Anne.

ANNE: . . . Well, we wouldn’t have all these kinds of problems if we just had prayer in school.

ME: So, you think we should have prayer in school?

ANNE: Sure, don’t you?

ME: Let me ask you this: When your son was young, did you pray with him before he left for school in the mornings?

ANNE: No.

ME: Do you think God will be pleased if we don’t do what He says, but instead, pay someone else to do it for us? Is that what He says He will bless?

Anne’s silence indicated that she got my point. God gives very clear instructions to His people. When we live in a nation that has the basic precept of religious freedom written into its laws, and we do not incorporate that into our family life, we are without excuse.

And how would we justify our appeal to Caesar? The Creator of the Universe needs no assistance from any man (or President) on earth. He gives clear assurance to those who obey His words.

Do we truly love God enough to obey Him? The opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. Proof of love is in actions – not words.

If we, who claim to believe in Almighty God, fail to access the blessings and power so readily available to us, we should not be deluding ourselves that our difficulties are caused by athiests or terrorists or anyone else. We need only look in the mirror.