The Ministry of Prayer in the Classroom and Beyond

Robert Brooks, a clinical psychologist, in his article titled, “The Impact of Teachers: A Story of Indelible Memories and Self-Esteem,” asked the teachers in his workshop the following questions: “Do you believe you have a lasting impact on the lives of your students? Five, ten, or twenty years from now? Will your students remember you or their experiences in your class? If so, what do you hope they will remember?”¹

Brooks asks these questions because he has spoken with so many teachers who wondered if they truly impact their students in their classrooms. He noted that teachers’ belief in having a positive effect on the lives of their students is linked to the teachers’ self-esteem and sense of competence. When teachers believe that what they are doing is of little consequence or value, their motivation and energy will be minimal, and they will consequently convey this to their students.

He found that the teachers attending his workshops were eager to talk about their own school memories. They shared with him that these memories seemed very recent, even though some of the events had occurred more than 50 years before. He became convinced that teachers’ memories continue to influence their lives and impact their actions toward their own students many, many years later. They are indeed indelible markers indicative of the lifelong influence that a teacher can have.

One powerful memory mentioned by many Christian adults is that of the praying educator. Ellen White, in her pamphlet entitled, “An Appeal to the Ministers,” delineated the power of praying ministers, which I believe include teachers.² Teachers in Seventh-day Adventist schools minister to the students, and many will see great results from their labors, if not in this world, then in the heavenly kingdom. Teachers, along with parents, have access to a powerful source of strength. In a familiar passage, Ellen White shared these encouraging words: “Parents and teachers lie down in their last sleep, their lifework seeming to have been wrought in vain; they know not that their faithfulness has unsealed springs of blessing that can never cease to flow; only by faith they see the children they have trained become a benediction and an inspiration to their fellow men, and the influence repeat itself a thousandfold.”³

Through prayer and by faith, praying educators can influence the lives of their students in and beyond the classroom. In Steps to Christ, White reminds us that “sons and daughters of God,”⁴ which means everyone, can call out to God for help and wisdom. She continues the quote by stating that “prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse,”⁵ which hold the “boundless resources of Omnipotence.”⁶ One can just imagine the power in store for anyone who prays the prayer of faith.

In this article, I share my journey in utilizing prayer in a classroom setting and beyond. Many teachers in Adventist educational settings may think that praying at the beginning or close of each class is adequate to address students’ spiritual needs. The usual practice is for teachers to call students in individually for prayer and counseling only when they have behavioral problems and/or academic difficulties. As a result, I believe we have relegated prayer to the limited role of an antidote for solving students’ problems and difficulties. My experimentation with going beyond the usual classroom prayer practice has reaped positive results far exceeding my expectations.

I did not practice this prayer ministry at the start of my teaching career. It was a gradual unfolding insight that I believe was inspired by the Holy Spirit. I taught just like most of the people who taught me since this was what I saw and experienced in the academy and college. But I thank God for impressing me to experiment and for the positive results I have experienced.

A Prayer Ministry: The Basics

Here is how I started a prayer ministry in my college classroom. At the beginning of each of my classes for the semester, when I met with my students for the first time, I asked them to write on a quarter sheet of paper the following information:

1. Their names (teachers today may want to ask for telephone numbers, e-mail or WhatsApp addresses, and/or Messenger accounts),
2. Their parents’ names and occupations,
3. The school where they finished secondary education,
4. Their main prayer requests, and
5. Their favorite Bible text.

I then collected these papers and told the class that I would pray for them and their prayer requests every morning upon waking up. I followed up on my daily prayers for them by calling one student at a time after every class period for a special prayer session, sometimes in the classroom and at other times in my office. At first, the class members thought the student I selected had a behavioral or academic problem. Later, the students realized that when I called them, I wanted to pray for them. With the information I obtained from them, I already had some insights into their prayer requests. During my talks with the students, I asked them to open their Bibles to their favorite texts or to what I referred to as God’s telephone number recorded in the Scriptures (Jeremiah 33:3, “‘“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know,”’” NKJV).⁷

As the semester progressed, my interactions with the students in each class gradually changed from the usual formal teacher-student relationship to one similar to a close parent-child relationship. This was because I had become acquainted with each of them and personally interacted with them through the prayer sessions. Many times, students opened up to me about their personal struggles and shed tears of relief as we interacted before praying. Many of them told me they would maintain the practice of praying for family, friends, and colleagues when the opportunity arose. Ten years have passed since I retired from administration and teaching, and those students, now professionals, still talk about having been prayed for individually.

When I became a college president, I expanded my prayer ministry—praying for the teachers by telephone, visiting them in their offices and workplaces, or calling them into my office.

Over time, with large classes and a heavy teaching load, it became clear that praying with my students had become quite time consuming (10 to 15 minutes per student). So, I modified my approach to praying for small groups (five to 10 students). I got this idea from Ellen White’s counsel.⁸ The “small groups” were composed of seatmates. Each small group was encouraged to select a leader, choose a name, and identify a philosophy. They also needed to select a Bible text as the basis of their name and philosophy.⁹ Classes met only twice a week, either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, and each “small group” met once weekly for group sharing and prayer (on Mondays for classes meeting on Monday/Wednesday and Tuesdays for classes meeting on Tuesday/Thursday).

Within the groups, I had the students select “Spiritual Partners,” which met once a week during class (on Wednesday or Thursday) to share their experiences and to pray for each other. If a student’s partner was absent, he or she met with another partner or couple. This interaction occurred early in the class period, just after the devotional. To support every small group and boost their morale, I would rotate among the different groups.

Students were required to log their daily Bible reading (of at least one chapter) in a “Spiritual Journal” maintained for the course. They were asked to include inside the journal the details of their sharing experiences with their spiritual partners: the date and time, and a brief description of what they shared. This journal was checked four times, just before every major examination. It was first checked and annotated by the small group leader, after which I authenticated and recorded the submission. The students in my classes got extra points for completing this process, which improved their grades.

Teachers who want to experiment with this practice may need to adapt it to meet their specific needs; however, the most important thing is for them to pray for all their students individually. If each teacher does this, it will radically transform the school’s atmosphere. Even if only some teachers follow this practice, it will be a game-changer in our schools from the elementary to the university level.

Non-theology teachers may feel that since they don’t teach religion courses, they don’t have to pray with their students individually. But the fact remains that for one reason or another (maybe because the teacher comes from the same state or town or city as the student, or speaks his or her language, or teaches his or her favorite subject, or even maybe the student likes the way the teacher presents the subject), every student has one or more favorite teachers. So, if this favorite teacher prays for him or her, it will make the student feel that this teacher is interested in his or her welfare. But what about the teacher who is not the favorite? Or the one having trouble believing that what he or she does is of minimal significance? Here is where this practice can be a blessing. Increasing interactions with students—getting to know their names and their families and understanding their challenges and struggles—provides an opportunity to convey care, nurture, and assistance, both in and beyond the classroom.

Praying Beyond the Classroom

Throughout my tenure as college president, I went from one college class to another and prayed with the students. I asked permission from their teachers to have a few minutes of their class time to pray for the students. I told the students that they probably would not come to my office on a regular basis, so I was coming to them. Then, I listed what I wanted to pray about for them:

(1) that they would be interested in this particular class and their teacher,

(2) that they would earn a good grade in the class,

(3) that they wouldn’t be sent home because of behavioral problems, and

(4) that they and their parents and/or sponsors could meet the financial obligations (tuition/board and room).

After this, I would quote a Bible text for them and ask them to open their Bibles and place their hands on the text, indicating they wanted to claim its promise. And then I would pray for them.

Later, I made a creative addition to this ministry. I told the students that after my prayer, I would shake their hands and symbolically transfer their tassels to the right as if congratulating them for successfully making it to graduation day. I discovered that even though the bell had already rung to signal the end of the class, no one left without shaking my hand.

The outcome of shaking the hands of my college students was tremendous. It had a unique impact on their thinking and was something they could not forget. Eventually, I also extended this practice of praying for the classroom students to the students at the nearby academy. As I prayed in each of their classrooms, their response was very positive. Several academy students sought me out with specific prayer requests afterward. Then, I also visited the elementary classrooms and prayed likewise in each room. After that, when I met the elementary pupils at the local school, they would ask when I would visit and pray for them again.

Conclusion

My prayer ministry for students and faculty worked well and was effective in my cultural context. Would it work effectively in other cultures and settings? I encourage Adventist educators to test it and look for ways to pray for students, and also faculty, and administration with intentionality and purpose. We are called to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), with every kind of prayer and petition (Ephesians 6:18), and with the assurance that God will hear those prayers (2 Chronicles 7:14). I hope that sharing my journey will encourage other teachers in different environments to experiment with this approach in their classes. I believe that it will enhance their own lives and the lives of their students.

Don Leo M. Garilva

Don Leo M. Garilva, DMin, is the former President and Dean of the School of Theology at Mountain View College (MVC) in Valencia, Bukidnon, Philippines. He also worked as a chaplain in two major hospitals in the Philippines before spending 13 years in MVC as a church pastor and campus chaplain. His doctoral work focused on campus chaplaincy, and he designed a six-part spiritual retreat series called “The Power of God in My Life,” which is used to enhance spirituality in educational institutions, hospitals, conferences, and churches. Dr. Garilva has conducted research on integrating spiritual mentoring in Adventist classrooms and reaching students on secular campuses.