Engel v. Vitale

June 25th of next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of to remove prayer from school in Engel v. Vitale (370 U.S. 421). Looking back on the history of our nation, this court decision in 1962 marks a clear turning point in our culture. Lots of people ask me about the importance of prayer in school. What are the effects? What is its significance to us today? History is perhaps the best teacher...

The issues surrounding the establishment of school-sanctioned and facilitated prayer in school centralize around the First Amendment religious freedoms given to students. A public school district in New York recited a simple, voluntary, nondenominational prayer each morning before school reading, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen."

The issue came when a group of parents contested the prayer as unconstitutional on the grounds that the government cannot establish a religion based on the belief system of the majority - that this prayer imposed on their freedom of religion as atheists and non-believers. while the validity of their case was largely debated and ultimately favored, student-led prayer remained possible.

This court decision actually did much more than many people realized. There is something significant about how the laws of the land act as a statement before heaven, and heaven sees the laws and grieves the gradual decay of the generation.

Where the story really begins to unfold is in the years immediately following this decision. Once this decision was made, and the legal principal was established, everything changed. The removal of prayer from school was the decision that served as the tipping point for countless other cases. Soon after 1962, other decision were made further removing God from our schools, including the removal of the ten commandments from display in public schools.

Not only were more court decision made, but the youth culture drastically changed. Starting in 1963, there was a rapid acceleration in the rate of teen violence cases, teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among teens, and even the family unite in America began to decay more rapidly as national divorce rates actually began to rise. Academics also showed signs of change. The steady national average SAT score fell sharply between 1963 and 1964 and national academics also began to decline. 

In short, there was a clear shift in the history of America related to the removal of prayer from schools. This raises the question, if the removal of prayer can have such  drastic negative effect on our youth, what could the return of prayer (through student-led gatherings) accomplish in our nation? Could we see the divorce rate recover? Could we see teen pregnancy recover? Could we see teen drug use and violence begin to fall? Could we even see national test scores begin to rise?

More than any of that, could we begin to see the ever growing percentage of unsaved teens begin to receive salvation and exalt Jesus? It is said that over 80% of people who get saved do so before the age of 18, and over 80% of those fall away in college. At this rate, less than 4% of this young generation are actually showing solid church involvement, and less than 1/2 of a percent actually have a clear Biblical worldview. An entire generation is going to hell on our watch, youth ministry in America is broken, but what if the prayers of the saints turned heaven's gaze as in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

What if?

As Supreme Court Justice Stewart dissented, 

I think that to deny the wish of these school children to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation. (http://vftonline.org/EndTheWall/Engel-Stewart.htm)

Perspectives On Prayer

I recently had a thought provoking conversation with a friend of mine that I thought my be good to share on this blog, check it out and tell me what you think!

As a general synopsis of my studies in prayer, I have been captivated by the testimony of the church's prayer warriors throughout history. Dating all the way back to passages where the prayers and repentance of God's people brought healing their nation (2 Chronicles 7:14 or Joel 2) or where the prayers of one man effected the destiny of nations that didn't even exist yet (Daniel 9 - 10), and then Luke 18:7 - 8 and confounding verses such as when Jesus tells us our prayers can effect the timing of His return (Matthew 24:20 or 2 Peter 3:12). Then you have the Tabernacle of David where David employed 4,000 musicians and singers and 24,000 supervisors and intercessors to pray night and day as the governmental center of Israel. The Tabernacle of David became a theme of history following David's vow to establish a dwelling place for the Lord on the earth (Psalm 132), and we see many more kings of Israel establish similar realities based on David's Tabernacle. Then at the end of all of that you have the throne of God described in Revelation 4 - 5 where there is constant prayer and worship surrounding His throne! There is something about prayer, even specifically 24/7 prayer that God seems to establish over and over throughout history.

Really my conclusion is that God established prayer as both the primary means of intimate relationship between us and God as well as the governmental center of His Kingdom. The way that Scripture reveals God's Kingdom, all of it is moved by the prayers of the saints, and history shows us how prayer can indeed effect the turning of events, but even more than that prayer is meant to align our hearts with God's heart. When done rightly, prayer releases God's will on the earth by aligning us with His will. People wonder about fasting and if people should participate in fasting today, and even then fasting seems no different than a diet, but in Daniel 10 and Joel 2 you see fasting that is prompted by and inward desire to be reunited with the desires of God's heart.

And the best part of being united with the desires of God's heart is that WE are His desire! The sparks fly when our hearts are turned towards a God who's heart is already turned towards us, but the judgement comes when our hearts are turned away and we 'scorn' His love. That why in Isaiah 59, the Lord releases judgement on Israel because there was no one who wanted to partner with Him! No one shared His desires (Isaiah 59:4,16)! In fact Isaiah 30 says that God, filled with desire, actually waits to visit a nation with blessing until the nation shares His desire. That's why He will not return until Revelation 22:17 is fulfilled when both the Spirit and the bride (being the church) say "Come, Lord Jesus!"

The greatest way to approach prayer is with the desire to encounter God, because that is already His desire. Prayer is a two way conversation that doesn't always get answered immediately, but it is always answered. Many people approach prayer as if they get to define the terms of their relationship with God. Many people even get saved, pray a prayer, but never align with God's terms of relationship. We don't pray in order to "get" anything, we pray primarily to encounter His heart. Truthfully probably less than half of my prayers are actual requests, and I pray a lot (compared to the average western Christian). A prayer life focused on making requests ends in disappointment because we never aligned ourself with God's desires or gained any depth in the conversation. But a prayer life that is based on love and a desire to know God is sustainable for eternity. Requests are very important, however, as God said "You have not because you ask not" (James 4:2-3), but God sets an example by particularly establishing the prayers of the righteous (those who share his motives and desires).

There is a theme woven throughout many of the Scriptures regarding prayer. When I'm teaching someone how to pray, my focus is never based on requests, because God loves to throw curveballs to test our motives. My focus is much more on getting the student fascinated by the beauty of Jesus. The real goal is not results, but a heart that is alive with love for God, in a living relationship and swirl of desire back and forth between us and God until we can't handle it anymore and we actually pray for His return because we miss Him so much! This is a totally foreign concept to most western Christians because God seems so detached and distant, but a life of prayer will reveal just how near He is!