Back to School Already?

Nearing the end of July for 2024 and summer vacations are quickly coming to a close. Store promotions and displays are up announcing back to school essentials, and even some non-essentials, discounts and deals. School districts are busy sending out their flyers and school calendars for the ensuing fiscal year. And the thought that is on everyone’s mind at a time like this is, “is it really back to school season ALREADY?”

I may be the only one, but I feel like this summer sure flew by in a hurry. But as I, along with many of you, gear up for the start of school season again there is a renewed urgency and a “contention” in my spirit for a prayer covering over our students and a cry for a spiritual awakening within our schools all across America. This is why, at Grand Haven Church of God, we are declaring August 25th, 2024, as Back-To-School Sunday and dedicating the AM service to prayer and commissioning of our students heading back into school.

PRAYER COVERING

[1Jo 3:8 AMP] 8 The one who practices sin [separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion] is of the devil [and takes his inner character and moral values from him, not God]; for the devil has sinned and violated God's law from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

We, the church, must pray a covering over our teens and our children. God informed the prophet Ezekiel that He is seeking one who will build up the “hedge” [a landscape covering] and stand in the gap for His people. In the face of increased cultural indoctrination, scriptural intolerance, and moral indifference; schools are no longer an educational safe house but a societal war zone. The Apostle Paul stated to the church in Ephesus our fight is against Satan’s kingdom in the Spiritual realm, not flesh and blood. And to the church in Corinth, he reminded them the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of spiritual strongholds. Prayer is a mighty weapon in the hands of a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled church. And while Intercession might be the targeting scope on our weapon in hand, prayer covering is the camouflage we must have on us.

As young David was about to enter the valley and face down the strongest, meanest, loudest giant of his time, Goliath, King Saul recognized the need for David to be covered for his protection. David, however, knew his covering was not in armor of metal or bronze, but his covering was from the Lord who assuredly wrote: “For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield [Psa 5:12 ESV]”. Likewise, as the older, mature ‘Sauls’ of today, we need to ensure our ‘Davids’ are covered in the Lord as they go out and face their giants. We cover them in prayer, and it is through our prayers that the Lord rests His presence upon them and shields them from the attacks and snares of the enemy.

The Lord gave us a pattern to praying a covering over Gods children. In Numbers chapter 6, the Lord instructs that the priests of the Tabernacle were to pray a certain blessing over the people of Israel:

• [Num 6:24-26 CSB]
  • 24 “May the LORD bless you and protect you;
  • 25 “may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
  • 26 “may the LORD look with favor on you and give you peace.” ‘

The prayer of covering includes the following:

• Firstly, we pray the Lord’s blessings and protection over them (vs 24)
• Secondly, we pray the Lord’s presence and grace be with them (vs 25)
• Third, we pray the Lord’s favor and peace will go before them (vs 26)

In Exodus 29, the Lord gave to the tabernacle priests further instructions; they were to be covered in the blood of the sacrifice {having the blood applied to the tip of their ears}. In this way, when they waved the offering over the people, as they, the priests, were covered by the blood, so too would they symbolically cover the people with the blood of atonement from the sacrifice. Scripture teaches that it is the blood that makes the atonement for the soul (see Lev. 17:11) and the only perfect blood sacrifice was of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (see Rev. 13:8) whose name is Jesus and by whose blood which was shed on Calvary’s Cross made the atonement once and for all time (see Rom 5:11, Heb 9:20-26) for all mankind to be covered under the blood (see Exo 12:13, Heb 13:20,21). To be covered by the blood of Christ is to have that which is impenetrable shielding you completely and wholly. When we pray the blood covering over our teens and children, we are asking the Lord to camouflage them in a covering that the enemy cannot penetrate.

Furthermore, in Exodus 29, the priests were to be covered by the oil {having the oil mixed with blood applied to the tip of their ears}. The use of oil throughout Scripture is symbolic of the anointing and presence of the Holy Spirit. Our children need the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives; especially as we send them out to be lights in a kingdom of darkness. It is wrong to prioritize the person and power of the Holy Spirit to adults only. It is wrong to think that our teens and children cannot understand who the Spirit is. It is wrong not to speak to them about the baptism of the Holy Ghost and give them opportunities to receive the spiritual blessing. Scripture declares: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:” [Acts 2:17 KJV] Through the empowerment of the Holy Ghost they will be able to overcome temptations, they will be convicted of wrongs and drawn to repentance, they will not be ashamed to stand up for and speak up for the Gospel, they will learn what the Spirit teaches over man’s ideologies. The priests waving their hands and sprinkling the people with oil was indicative of a release of a spiritual blessing upon the people. Likewise, we ought to stretch forth our hands and pray over this generation of young people to receive the covering of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance.

The devil is after our sons and our daughters, and he is using the school grounds as his boot camp. Nevertheless, it is for this reason that the Son of God came, to destroy the works of the devil (see 1 John 3:8) and it is by the church praying a covering over this next generation that all the works of the devil will be brought to nothing as the blood of Christ and the power of the Spirit prevails. The church must not grow slack or ever become weary in our spiritual duty to cover our teens and our children, every day while on this battlefield called school, in prayer.

Spiritual Awakening

[James 5:16 NLT] ... The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

The Psalmist asked: “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” [Ps 85:6 KJV] Revival has been a quest for the church throughout the centuries, with every generation of the church calling out for revival. Can there be a revival of righteousness in this sin-struck, moral-depraved, wicked-induced world of today?

R.A. Torrey, former pastor of Moody Bible Church in Chicago, president of the Moody Bible Institute, and renowned author, noted “There have been revivals without much preaching, but there has never been a mighty revival without mighty prayer”. Many grand awakenings throughout history began with great stories of young men and women falling on their knees and engaging in persistent and consistent times of prayer. Prayer that cry’s out to heaven, prayer that binds the high places of society, prayer that looses the active gifts of the Spirit, prayer that shakes the mountains of the earth; oh yes, a revival of the Holy Ghost is possible today but only through much prayer, and this revival will be poured out on young people of today.

We have been seeing small pockets of revival on college campuses across the United States. Recent awakenings from school year 2023/2024 saw moments of Spiritual renewal at Asbury College, Oral Roberts University, Lee University, Liberty University, and even public state schools, such as University of Tennessee. I believe that political events in the U.S at the beginning of this 2024/2025 school year will press college students to a greater need for God and His Spirit; seeing that the worldly system will never satisfy their longing for truth and love. The moments of awakening from ’23/’24 will carry-over into ’24/’25 and will be enlarged as the end-time harvest is being gathered from the four-corners of the world. But I am also asking God “what about our High Schools? What about our Middle Schools and Elementary?” Prayer is required. Much prayer is needed. When the church awakens to its responsibility to prayer is when the world will awaken to its need of God. Revival is not just a pipedream of the pious, it is the mandate of the prophets.

When the church awakens to its responsibility to prayer is when the world will awaken to its need of God.

The prophet Habakkuk cried out: “I have heard all about you, LORD. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.” [Hab 3:2 NLT] The Lord has always brought help when Gods people turned to him prayer. While I could provide here numerous Biblical stories, a more recent one comes to mind. In the late 1800’s, Great Britain was experiencing a massive spiritual decline. Revival was seemingly not in the picture for the church. Yet, the church still prayed. The Baptists of England began to call out to God, and on a farm in the countryside of England a young man named G. Campbell Morgan was born. According to Wikipedia online, ‘He was very sickly as a child, could not attend school, and so was tutored at home’. Preaching his first sermons at only 13 years of age, he began professional Bible teaching and preaching in his very early twenties. This was in an era of the academic scholarly preachers and college bred Doctor of Divinity clergy only. Yet, ‘He had no formal training for the ministry, but his devotion to studying the Bible made him one of the leading Bible teachers of his day. His reputation as preacher and Bible expositor grew throughout Britain and spread to the United States.’ At only 13 years of age, God got a hold of a sickly country-side teen with no formal education and used him to spread revival throughout Great Britain and promoting a revival spirit to North America. What God can accomplish through our young people today, we may never be able to fully imagine, but it begins with our prayers.

Prayer always produces as God always answers prayer. P. Douglas Small in his book Prayer-The Heartbeat of the Church, wrote:

“Our prayers live on after we die. They continue to influence events on the earth. … He sets His heart on honoring the promise He made to us while we were on our knees.” P. Douglas Small

The promises of God are Yes and Amen through Christ Jesus our Lord. The promise of a last day harvest shall be fulfilled. A Spiritual Awakening will come upon our young people as the church begins to pray today. And even if we shall die before we see it, your prayers today will be the catalyst that stoked the flames of revival.

Annointed Commissioning

"You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know the truth." [1 John 2:20 HNV]

As we commission these students to re-enter the hallways and classrooms of public schools, we must give to them the truths they will need to cling to:

They are BIGGER

When troubles and conflicts come, and they will, they will not need to fear. They serve a BIG GOD who does BIG THINGS. Their God is bigger than all their strife, stress and struggles.

They are BETTER

When feelings of insecurity and uncertainty begin to mount, they will not need to be dismayed. They serve a GOOD GOD who has GOOD PLANS for them. Their God is better than all their flaws, faults and failures.

They are BRIGHTER

When pain and sorrow increase, they will not need to live under a spirit of darkness. They serve a GLORIOUS GOD who bestows GLORIOUS JOY. Their God is brighter than all their doubts, discouragement and despair.

They are BOLDER

When oppression and subjugation rises up against them, they will not need to hide in shame. They serve an AWESOME GOD who performs AWESOME MIRACLES. Their God is bolder than all their weaknesses, wavering and worries.

Let the church pray that these truths will be found in our young adults, teens and children.