Orient My Heart

a liturgy for writing a lesson plan

Father, as I think about writing this lesson plan,
I come to You to orient my heart
rather than allow anxiety to rule,
or rather than rushing off
to scribble my ideas, search my resources,
or ask my colleagues.

Father, I come to You with a heart of thanks.

Thank You for giving me this chance
to serve others,
to instruct them, to act in humility,
seeking to facilitate their growth
and to learn together with my students.

Thank You for entrusting this task into my hands.
Alone, I am not able to nurture
and produce growth in my students
(whether in their language or thinking
or understanding of life),
but instead You have decreed
that I should lean on You
and be used as a means
of serving this group of students,
not for my honor, but for Yours.

Thank You for these students I will teach.
All of them.
For those who smile and respond with enthusiasm,
and for those I can’t understand.
Thank You for those who don’t seem to care
or don’t expect they can learn,
as well as for those I can’t wait to see in class.
Thank You for each one You have brought
into my classroom.

Father, now I confess I need Your help.

Oh Source of Love, help me
to listen to Your heart of love for these learners.
I trust You to show them Your lovingkindness
even through my imperfect efforts.
Enable me to serve both the group,
and each individual.
Make me courageous and strong,
not overwhelmed
by the number of students in this class
or by the difficulties we face
in teaching and learning new things.

Oh All-Knowing One, please be merciful
to them and to me,
and give me insight into this topic I will teach.
Allow me to see this lesson and the teaching aims
in new ways,
through both their eyes,
and through the eyes of the wise.

Oh Expert in Mediation, please help me
to mediate new ideas
and new skills to my students;
enable me to stand in the gap
to bring them closer to that knowledge
and those skills
which they need and desire.

Oh Steadfast One, give me perseverance
to work intentionally in preparing this lesson.
Give me insight to know
when my preparation is enough,
when more time will not lead
to further improvement.

Father, when I come to stand
in front of these students,
may I be filled with awareness
of standing in Your presence,
and of You working out this lesson,
which I now begin to plan.

Amen

Further exploration

You can find a printable version of this liturgy here: Orient My Heart.

Post Author

Gretchen has lived and taught in both Asia and the Middle East for over 30 years.

Series Editor

Erika McIntyre

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Image designed by Elaine Liu.