Introduction from Dutch Sheets:
Today's stirring post is from bestselling author and prayer leader Cheryl Sacks.
Since it's time for schools and colleges to start again, we have asked Cheryl to inform and encourage us on how we can transform our schools.
Dutch Sheets
Give Him 15
When God Was Removed from Our Schools: The Battle Is Real, but We've Seen Him Turn the Tide!
It was June 1962. Twenty-five second graders bowed their heads in a New York classroom:
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our Country."
It was the last time that prayer would be spoken in an American public school.(1)
In that moment, something foundational shifted. A daily reminder of our dependence on God was silenced. The moral compass that had quietly shaped hearts and guided choices was taken out of the hands of the next generation.
At first, the changes seemed small. We removed prayer. Then the Ten Commandments. Then God altogether.
Since that time, we've seen the unimaginable:
• Parents removed from school board meetings for opposing pornographic books,(2)
• Drag shows for kindergartners,(3)
• Teachers fired for stating biological facts,(4)
• Children chemically castrated and surgically mutilated(5)—at times with teachers or counselors encouraging the transitions—while parents are kept in the dark,(6)
• A mother addressing the school board, confronting a male member wearing lipstick and his late wife's clothes.(7)
This is the confusion shaping policies for our children.
The Crisis Is Deeper Than We Think
An invisible war is raging for the hearts and minds of the next generation.
Just last week, I read about a murder plot devised by fifth graders (two boys and two girls) to take the life of an autistic boy. One student was to bring the knife, another to fake a suicide note, and one to serve as a scout while the stabbing took place. The autistic boy thought these were his friends.(8)
Are you weeping yet?
When God is removed, the devil fills the void. Good is evil, evil is good. Lord, have mercy!
What's happening in our schools is alarming. Once beacons of academic learning, places of safety, friendship, and good citizenship, they are anything but that today. And it's not just gender confusion and moral issues. Across America, students are falling through the cracks academically. As an educator, I've seen this firsthand.
A fifth grader sits quietly at his desk, eyes downcast—not because he doesn't care, but because he can't read the words on the page. A teacher stares at an empty desk, one of dozens in a classroom where nearly half the students didn't show up. The bell rings, but fear has kept many at home. This is more than a local issue. It is a national crisis with serious consequences. (Photo via Pexels)
Nearly two-thirds of graduating high school seniors cannot read proficiently,(9) and nearly three-fourths lack proficient math skills.(10) Many don't feel safe enough to come to school.
Across America, one in three students is chronically absent, and in some districts it's far worse—over sixty percent at a Harlem elementary school,(11) sixty percent in D.C. high schools,(12) and fifty percent in parts of Washington State's Highline School District.(13)
And it's not only academics. Suicide, depression, and anxiety are surging among students. Teachers, overwhelmed and under-supported, are leaving in record numbers.
But We Are Not Without Hope
It's easy to feel overwhelmed, but we are not powerless. The battle for our schools is real, but we've seen God turn the tide! And He can do it again.
I've seen with my own eyes what happens when God is invited back into a school. I've watched hopelessness lift, fear give way to peace, and entire communities begin to believe again. What once seemed impossible suddenly becomes a testimony to His power.
Take one Arizona high school, for example. It had been labeled an "F" school, plagued with drugs, violence, and despair. One to three students a month were overdosing. But then Believers began to intercede. They prayer-walked the campus and held all-night prayer vigils, crying out for God to move. And He did.
The overdoses stopped. The spiritual atmosphere began to shift. Within a year, the school skyrocketed from an "F" to an "A" School of Excellence. The following year, it was ranked an "A+" school and named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in America.
When God is invited in, everything changes!
Transformation Is Possible
I've also seen God move in schools so broken that even their leaders couldn't imagine a turnaround.
When we asked one Arizona high school principal about the greatest need his school faced, he responded, "That's an easy question to answer. There's no hope here!" The school was underfunded, short on teachers, and overrun with behavioral issues. Fights were breaking out on campus daily. The sports fields were in disrepair. The facilities were crumbling.
I'll never forget the student athlete who held up his cleats. The bottom was falling off—barely held together by masking tape provided by the front office. It was a picture of what was happening not just to this student, but to the entire school.
We knew something had to change. So, we started to pray. We began to walk the campus and intercede. We held an all-night prayer vigil. We asked God to intervene—and He did.
The Arizona Cardinals got wind of the school's needs and donated cleats, jerseys, and gear they no longer needed. NBA Cares provided $150,000 in furnishings and funded renovations. The Phoenix Suns showed up with a $200,000 check to hire more teachers.
But the biggest miracle wasn't the money. Teachers reported no more fights on campus. One wrote on social media, "The entire atmosphere of our school has changed."
This is the power of a praying community.
A Call to Action
Today, this same kind of transformation is needed in schools across the nation. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, student, or just someone who cares, we encourage you to adopt your local schools and commit to prayer-walking, prayer-driving, or interceding from home.
The results speak for themselves:
• Academic performance rises; failing schools turn around.
• Drug use, suicide, and violence decrease.
• Fear gives way to peace and hope.
• Students discover identity and purpose.
• Parents speak up and take action to demand change.
Here's how you can join this movement:
1. Adopt a school near you and commit to prayer-walking or prayer-driving it this fall.
2. Start a prayer cluster—a few friends, your church group, your family—to pray for your schools.
3. Pray from wherever you are. Even if you can't leave your house, your prayers still carry power.
You can view the map to see where others are praying across the nation and sign up to pray for schools in your area at prayerforschools.com.
I am convinced that no student, no school, is too broken to be transformed when God's people pray!
Pray with Me
Father, we stand before You on behalf of the schools of our nation. We repent for allowing You to be removed from our classrooms, hallways, and culture. Forgive us for yielding ground to darkness.
We dedicate every school in America—public, private, charter, homeschool, and every college and university—to You. We consecrate each campus as holy ground where Your presence is welcome and Your purposes prevail.
In the authority of Jesus Christ, we release the light of Christ into every classroom, the truth of Your Word into every curriculum. Send a mighty revival to our campuses, O Lord, and save our children. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Our decree: We decree that God's plumb line of unshakable truth is set again in America's schools. We declare that classrooms are restored as places of learning and moral strength—violence driven out by peace, confusion shattered by clarity, despair overwhelmed by hope. We decree that teachers will instruct with God-given wisdom, parents will lead with courage, and students will rise in bold faith to live for Christ. What the enemy meant for evil, God is turning for good. America's children are taught of the Lord, and great is their peace (Isaiah 54:13).
(To watch this full word, click here.)
Notes:
1. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), National Constitution Center. Accessed February 14, 2025.
2. Parent Challenges Explicit Library Books, Escorted Out of Frederick School Board Meeting, The Winchester Gazette, January 23, 2025.
3. The American Mind. "What I Saw at Drag Queen Story Hour." Accessed July 1, 2025.
4. Vision Radio. "Professor Fired for Stating Biological Fact." Accessed July 1, 2025.
5. Sam Levin, "Sixteen U.S. States Sue White House Over Healthcare Access for Transgender Youth," The Guardian, August 1, 2025.
6. Shaun?Boyd, "Colorado Parents Sue Over Law and School Policy Regarding Transgender Students, CBS News, August 9, 2024.
7. Melissa Fine, "'Meow!' Mom dresses up, declares 'I am a cat' to protest trans school board member who wears dead wife's clothing in front of students," BizPac Review, December?15,?2022.
8. Micaela Marshall, "Surprise Family Speaks Out After 5th-Grade Classmates Plotted Son's Murder," Arizona's Family, August 4, 2025.
9. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP Reading: National Achievement-Level Results, Grade 12 (2019).
10. Declines in Math Readiness Underscore the Urgency of Math Awareness, The 74 Million, April 5, 2023.
11. Chronic absenteeism remains high in Harlem Elementary Schools, Newsday, Columbia News Service, November 22, 2024.
12. D.C. Schools Have a Stubbornly High Absenteeism Problem, Axios Washington D.C., March 7, 2024, reporting that 60 percent of D.C. high school students were chronically absent last school year.
13. Angela King, "Washington Schools Grapple with One of the Highest Chronic Absenteeism Rates," KUOW, February 17, 2023.
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Cheryl Sacks
Bridge Builders
Email:Â info@bridgebuilders.net
Website:Â bridgebuilders.net
Cheryl Sacks is the author of multiple bestselling books, including Reclaim a Generation: 21 Days of Prayer for Schools, and Fire on the Family Altar, a guide to igniting revival in your home and nation. You can learn more about Cheryl and her husband Hal's work at bridgebuilders.net.
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Dutch Sheets
Dutch Sheets Ministries
Email:Â click here
Website:Â dutchsheets.org
Dutch Sheets is an internationally recognized author, gifted teacher, and conference speaker. He travels extensively, challenging believers for passionate prayer and societal reformation. Seeing America experience a sweeping revival and return to its Godly heritage is Dutch's greatest passion. Dutch has written over twenty-three books, many of which have been translated into over thirty languages. His international bestseller, Intercessory Prayer, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Dutch has pastored, taught in several colleges and seminaries, and served on the board of directors of numerous organizations. He is fondly known to many as Papa Dutch. Treasuring time spent with their family and grandchildren. Dutch and Ceci, his wife of forty plus years, enjoy quiet walks in the woods, reading, and playing a little golf. They make their home in beautiful South Carolina.
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