Today I saw a Facebook post that led people to believe that one of the five main reasons (listed on the post) that are causing all of the problems we have today is the absence of prayer in schools. Now I’m not trying to start anything here but I don’t believe that this is true. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that the absence of prayer anywhere is a problem but my point is that I don’t believe there to be an absence of prayer whatsoever in school.
When I first started teaching, we had a night custodian who was older and quiet but over the years I got to know him. He was a sweet man who worked hard and always cared about the job he did for our school. One of the teachers who had been there longer than myself once told me that as Ike wiped down the desks every night, he would pray over each child individually. I was so completely floored when I heard this. That a man whose job was incredibly isolating would think to pray for these kids every day was such an incredible notion to me.
When I worked at my last school, I used to meet with teacher friends at Starbucks every Friday morning to drink coffee, chat and pray for our students, our schools, our colleagues and each other. Over the years we were blessed to see so many of our prayers answered and some we are still waiting for God. To this day I can easily think of many teachers and other staff members in schools who regularly pray for the students and families who walk through our doors.
Just because we aren’t praying as a class or leading prayers over the intercom doesn’t mean that prayer is absent in school. Prayer is alive and active in schools across our country No matter the circumstances, we are called to pray without ceasing for each other. 
The Inspired Educator 