How to Pray for a Home Educator

In my area, the conventionally schooled kids are headed back. The public schools start this week, and most of the private schools will have started back by sometime next week. Our church traditionally spends some time in prayer on this Sunday for the back to school time, which is right and good.

But sometimes this prayer time can leave homeschoolers feeling a little less than validated. Sometimes those leading prayers do indeed specifically mention homeschoolers as they pray, but often they do not. While I have been in situations where church leadership was opposed to homeschooling, I do not think this is the predominant situation. I think rather, as most home educators have experienced, homeschooling just doesn’t make it onto the radar of those who don’t have a personal interest in it. We get that. We do appreciate it and notice it when we are prayed for, but we know that sometimes including this nontraditional path just doesn’t occur to others because of its relative rarity.

I have noticed, though, another category of back to school prayers regarding homeschoolers, and this is what I’ve observed in my own church from time to time. Once at back-to-school time, our preacher invited all students and all educators in whatever venue from preschool to college including homeschoolers, to kneel in the aisles as he prayed. As he prayed for those in conventional education, he clearly had an idea of the things he intended to pray for. When he mentioned homeschoolers specifically (and believe me, we appreciated it), it really came down pretty much to “And those who are teaching their children at home, umm, well God bless them, too.” He had a heart for us, but just wasn’t sure what we needed.

I think people just don’t really have an idea of a specific way to pray for homeschoolers. Let’s help them out.

Pray for alertness. Homeschool moms with very young children as well as school-aged kids are in particular need of this. The satisfaction of a reading lesson well done is greatly diminished upon finding that during lessons with the eldest, one’s 3 year old has been busy decorating the kitchen cabinets with sharpies. Riding herd on 4 kids isn’t necessarily harder than riding herd on 25, of course, but the variety of ages adds a challenging element, as does the fact that said children, oddly enough, feel free to roam throughout their own home rather than being contained to one room.

Pray for organization. Homeschoolers plan and teach with no built-in planning period, and are responsible for being our own cafeteria staff and custodial staff. We are responsible for choosing the extracurriculars for each of our students, juggling them into a workable schedule, and making the transportation work. No wonder we come to the end of the day amazed that these people want to eat again and with no clue what to feed them.

Much as I need greater organizational skills and much as I need energy and perseverance and much as I would appreciate prayers for those things, I do not consider that the primary need of homeschooling parents. You see, one of the greatest blessings of homeschooling is also its biggest spiritual challenge. Homeschooling allows us to spend so much more time with our children than if they were conventionally schooled. Think that through carefully.

That means that we get to have cuddly mornings filled with books read together in jammies. That means we get to have Bible stories and scripture memory and hymn time together. It means we have increased opportunity to instruct them as we go out and as we come in.

It also means that they see everything we do all day every day. When we have had it and blow up over a seemingly small incident, they see that. If we have something unkind to say about the driver just ahead of us, they hear it. If we are preaching diligence without practicing it, they know it. Just like a classroom teacher, a home educator has an opportunity to touch lives with the love of Jesus. But a home educator has to try to live a testimony of grace and love all her waking hours in front of the people who know her best and whose spiritual conditions mean the most to her.

Please think that over. If you spend most of your days away from your kids, how do you think you would measure up if they saw you 16 hours a day every day? One of the things homeschoolers hate hearing is, “Oh, I could never do that. I’m too impatient. My child and I just butt heads too much.” Well, yeah. Me too. I’m too impatient with them. We butt heads. But just like in every aspect of parenting, the patience comes with the doing.

How to pray for a homeschooling parent? Pray like you would for a classroom teacher. Pray like you would for any brother or sister regardless of how and where they spend their days. Pray lilke you pray for any one who is undertaking the immense challenge of parenthood. Pray that as we live our lives in front of those who are both our greatest fans and quickest critics, we will be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the word of life.

How can we pray for you?