The Principal's Prayer Blog

"So the law was our guardian until Christ came  that we might be justified by faith.   Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.   So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God  through faith." Galatians 3:24-26 Dear Jesus, We come before you in humble praise for the many blessings you have provided over the past year. Your hand of goodness and mercy has been over us and we thank you for your gracious love. Lord, the past year was not perfect and many people suffered, we know that you work even in the difficult times and pray that your goodness and mercy may be seen even in the tough situations we and those around us have faced. We offer thanksgiving to you for coming to this earth as a baby to live perfectly and die forsaken for us poor sinners. We thank you for the opportunity to worship you over the past holiday season and to remind us that you are the true reason for Christmas celebrations. May we ever keep you in our hearts and minds as we

"Today in the town of David a Savior  has been born to you; he is the Messiah,  the Lord." Luke 2:11 Savior of the Nations, All praise and glory to You, Mighty One, for coming to this earth as a baby to save us from our sins. Honor and glory to You, Prince of Peace, for coming to us in humble human form to bring us to the Father. Thanks and glory to you, Emmanuel, for living a perfect life and loving us perfectly. As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, we come before you and confess our sins. May we prepare for your coming with contrite hearts and lives filled with love and service to you and others rather than selfish ambitions and desires. Forgive us for our shortcomings and bring us to your side. Thank you Lord for all the many blessings in 2016! St. John's Lutheran Church and School has been blessed for over 100 years with Your presence and we ask that you continue to be with us. Bless our staff, students, and families as we worship you and take a break from

In those days John the Baptist  came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea   2  and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven  has come near.” 3  This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3:1-3 Dear Father, We praise you for your marvelous deeds and your gracious love. You knew since the fall of Adam and Eve that the world needed a Savior and in the fullness of time you send your Son to redeemer your people. All this you have done out of love and compassion for us, your children. We repent of our sins and ask for your forgiveness through your son. Thank you for sending a perfect Savior into the world, in the form of a tiny baby in Bethlehem, to save us from our sinful ways. Thank you for John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus and all those pastors, teachers, and evangelists who continue to prepare the way for your second coming. May our

And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good. II Thessalonians 3:13 Dear Father, We praise you for your goodness! You are perfect and give us, Your children, perfect gifts. Thank you for the many good and perfect gifts You give us and for the ability to do good for those around us as well. St. John's has been blessed with so many good gifts. Thank you for Your continued presence among us. Thank you for our students and parents who give so much of their time to do good things for our school. Thank you for our teachers who do good in our classrooms daily. May our good deeds be seen among our neighbors and be a witness to You, Father in Heaven, for the many blessings from above! We pray this week for parent/teacher conferences. May they be a blessing to our teacher, students, and parents. May Your presence be among all and Your peace prevail throughout. Please also be with our teachers as they go to the Lutheran Educators' Conference next week. M

When the  Lord  saw that he had gone over to look, God called  to him from within the bush,  “Moses! Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.” Exodus 3:4 Heavenly Father, May all honor and Glory be to You for Your awesome power and dominion in our world. As Creator of all, You hold us all in your hands, bring peace to the nations, and provide for all. May your grace, love, and abundant care be with us. We come before You as sinful beings and humbly ask for Your forgiveness. Thank You for sending Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. May we continually come before You for help and strength to fight against the temptations of the devil. Thank you Father for our veterans! May those who have sacrificed for us be honored. We pray for the families of fallen soldiers. Bring comfort to them. We also pray for the military personnel who are actively defending this country from danger. Protect them and keep them close to You. We also pray for those service men and women who are battling PTSD a

"But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water  welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14 Heavenly Father, May your holy name be praised to the nations! Just as you brought the life-saving message to the Samaritan woman at the well, you bring your Word into our lives through worship and school. We praise you for your Holy Word and the saving grace it brings to us through Jesus. We thank you that you provide for our everyday needs. Thank you for the gifts of love, friendship, sports, and school. May St. John's be that place of refuge and provision through your Son. May St. John's be a well to all those who are thirsty. Please be with all our families on All Saint's Day when we remember those who have passed away. May your care and love surround those families who have lost loved ones this year remember. Thank you Lord for all your good gifts to your children! Amen!

“This is a day you are to commemorate;  for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the  Lord —a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 Heavenly Father, We come before you to celebrate You! You are our Creator, Father, King and Savior. We praise you for your lasting love and divine care over us and all people. Just as the people of Israel celebrated the  Passover meal and celebrated their deliverance, we also celebrate the life, death and resurrection of your perfect Son, Jesus. We confess Lord that we are imperfect and in need of a Savoir. Help us to always come to you humbly and with a contrite heart and freely offer forgiveness to others as you have so graciously offered to us. Thank you God for the gift of Holy Communion and the forgiveness and regeneration of spirit we receive. Father, thank you for your many blessings over St. John's Lutheran Church and School. Bless all who come here with your love and peace. May our students and parents who

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,  baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,   and teaching  them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you  always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 Lord of the Nations, We praise you for your goodness and mercy! You are a gracious God who loves all and we thank you for your forgiveness and ever-present protection. We praise you for your protection in times of trouble and providence in times of need. Thank you for providing for St. John's Lutheran Church and School and continuing to strengthen us to bring Christ, Your Son, to all nations. Thank you for always being with us and blessing children and families at St. John's and all throughout the world. Please be with all children and families this week and next as we take Iowa Test of Basic Skills assessments. Give children and families stamina and soundness of mind to do their best! We pray tha

"Then he said to them,  “The Sabbath was made for man,  not man for the Sabbath.   So the Son of Man  is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28 Holy God, You are an awesome God who reigns over all your creation! May we, your creation, let praises ring back to you for your abounding goodness. You have established the Sabbath for us, knowing that we need peace and rest in your presence. May we, your people, learn to come to you more often to find refuge from our sins.  We confess our sins as people of a fallen world. Help us to come to you to seek refuge in your salvation. May we always confess quickly of our wrongs and offer forgiveness freely to our neighbors. We thank you for St. John's Lutheran Church and School! Thank you that we are a place of refuge, a house of worship, and a place to enjoy your Sabbath. Thank you that our classrooms are places of grace and love. Please continue to be with all parents, students, faculty, and staff at St. John's as we contin

Let everything  that has breath praise the  Lord . Praise the  Lord . Psalm 150:6 Heavenly Father, We praise you for your mighty power! We praise you for your wonderful acts of love and kindness! We praise you for your ultimate wisdom! May your truth and justice always prevail in this broken world. We praise you, Father, for St. John's Lutheran Church and School! We praise you for our students! We praise you for our families! We praise you for our teachers and pastors! May your Holy Spirit dwell in all so that we may grow in faith toward you and in love toward others. Hear our prayers for safety for those families who travel long distances to St. John's everyday. May those students who are sick be healed. Bring your love and forgiveness to all of us through the healing power of your Word. Let us praise you with every breath! Amen!

So God created  mankind  in his own image,      in the image of God  he created them;      male and female  he created them. Genesis 1:27 Dear Father, You have created all of humankind in Your image. You loved us before we were knit together in our mother's womb and you will love us into everlasting. We praise you for Your goodness in creation and Your faithfulness in salvation. Even though we fall short because of sin, You still sent your Son, Jesus, to give Himself in our place so that we might live at the foot of your throne forever! Thank you, Father, for salvation through Jesus. Thank you for safety through Your fatherly goodness and mercy. Especially, we thank you for a safe week for the 7th grade students. You kept them safe while providing an incredible view of your creation. Heavenly Father, please be with us this week as we are ending the first month of school. Keep our students strong in faith, body and mind. Keep our teachers strong and healthy. May all St. Joh

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.   He appointed twelve [ a ]  that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach   and to have authority to drive out demons.   These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),   James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”),   Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot   and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.  Mark 3:13-35 Heavenly Father, All praise and honor to you, Holy Lord and King of creation! You have given us our beautiful earth and everything in it. We thank you that you have appointed us stewards of your creation. May we be diligent in preserving your treasure and our daily bread. We thank you for those the preach and teach among us! Just as you called the twelve disciples,  you call us to lives of service to you. Be e

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors  through him who loved us.   For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,  nor any powers,   neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God  that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 Father in heaven, I praise and thank you that you have made us conquerors of death and sin through the sacrifice of your son Jesus! Christ's power over the grave has opened the gates of heaven for us. All glory goes to You for providing us with a pathway to Your throne. Lord, we are a sinful people, yet you continue to bless us. Thank you for the blessings of health to our students and their families. Thank you for teachers, learning, and safe places for studying You and Your creation at St. John's. I humbly come before You and ask that you provide health and healing to St. John's students and familie

"And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:27 Heavenly Father, THANK YOU for St. John's Lutheran School of Orange! What a blessing it is to see and hear the excitement for learning and the joy of Jesus abound throughout the classrooms and playgrounds of the school. You are a boundless God and your dominion over this world is evident through your establishment of schools of learning and places of worship. I praise You for Your presence among us here at St. John's. In the midst of the back-to-school business of life and the beginnings of a new school year, be with us and give us your peace in times of newness, times of anxiousness, and times of excitement. May each classroom on our campus have the joy of Jesus at its center and may that joy be in abundance. Let that joy be the vehicle of peace in our lives. Finally, Lord, help all teachers, students, and families at St. John's to grow closer to you. Help us learn wh