The Shadowlands is a wonderful movie about C.S. Lewis and his relationship with his wife. In the film, Lewis receives terrible news and is powerless to change the outcome of the situation. In the midst of his sorrow, a colleague tells Lewis, “I know how hard you’ve been praying and now God is answering your prayer.”

Lewis’ response is powerful: “That’s not why I pray; I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God; it changes me.”

Our entire school recently participated in a day of prayer, facilitated by Chaplain Brent Pollema. As a school, we hold special prayer days because our students need to see their community (teachers, parents, administrators, and classmates) demonstrating the importance of prayer. Students need to practice it, individually and collectively.

Rather than gathering together and having other people pray, students gathered and did much of the spiritual work themselves.

As principal, I learned several things from our day of prayer.

• High schoolers and second graders are equally capable of praying earnestly and powerfully.
• There is an 8th grade class in our Ambleside network that has a relationship with a school in India, as well as one in South Africa, and the class prays for them weekly.
• Our community misses, and is craving, more community time. It was important that we provided a prayer schedule and included our entire school community in the day of prayer
• God has, definitively, said yes to many of our prayers this year — health and safety for our school, in-person instruction for the whole year, and student growth.

I am grateful for all of God’s blessings this year, including the ones that have come in uncomfortable or unpleasant packaging.

Are you providing daily family time for prayer?
Here’s an idea. Select a 15-minute time when your family can gather together each day. Hang a chalkboard or whiteboard in a prominent space in your house (or open up a shared Google document with your older family members) where ongoing prayer lists can be viewed daily. Share each other’s burdens. Every family member can post requests so that different ages can pray for each other. And then, pray together — consistently and without ceasing.

Mrs. Cheryl Ward
Principal
Calvary Schools of Holland