Psalm 104:
Verse 30: “You send forth your spirit and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth”
Also read verses 10-13 and Isaiah 32:15
- Pray that the Lord will renew the face of education in Uganda
- Beseech the Lord to pour out His Spirit over Uganda that this word will be fulfilled in all sectors of our society
- Pray that the wilderness situations in all spheres of our society: education, the economy/business, politics/government, media, culture, entertainment and the arts, families etc. will become a fruitful field and that the fruitful field will become a forest (Isaiah 32:15).
Verse 19a: “He appointed the moon for seasons…”
Ask the Lord to appoint a new season for education in Uganda that will positively change the face of education: administration, curriculum, examination, access to education, school retention, and educational outcomes.
Verse 13-15:
Pray that the Lord will do a work in the sphere of education and institution that will bring the country much joy and satisfaction.
Verse 16a:
Pray that the changes in the education system will result in “trees of righteousness”: graduates of the education system who are morally upright, knowledgeable and skilled.
Verse 23:
Pray that the result of God’s visitation in the education sector and the institution in focus will be a strong workforce for Uganda. Pray the growing population will all be adequately trained and skilled so that they will be able to work from sunrise to sunset – no idleness.
Verse 27-30:
Pray that the visitation of the Lord will result in the production of abundance of food and a renewal of the face of our country: a positive new national culture and character. Pray that God will powerfully send forth His Spirit to renew the education sector and recreate it.
Verse 28b:
Pray that the Church in the Uganda will understand and embrace this new season of open hands that the Lord has brought to us.
Isaiah 32:15
15 Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
18 My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
19 Though hail comes down on the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.
20 Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey.
EMERGENCE OF SERVANT LEADERS IN THE EDUCATION SPHERE
Isaiah 22:15-25 (NLT)
This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message: “Who do you think you are, and what are you doing here, building a beautiful tomb for yourself – a monument high up in the rock? For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you, crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master! “Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position. And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.” But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
The Shebna-types of leaders are corrupt, arrogant and self-seeking; the Eliakim-types of leaders, like good fathers, are servants and stewards; they live for the next generation. Shebna who had a stewardship role (managing resources on behalf of his master for the benefit of the people) had abused his role and used his position to enrich himself.
Only the very wealthy in those days could afford to build themselves tombs or sepulchers in the rock. At Jesus’ death, it was a rich man Joseph of Arithmea who surrendered his tomb for Jesus’ burial. So tombs were the status symbols of the day. In our day the status symbols are different: grand buildings, land, vehicles, etc. Shebna had abused his office and corruptly amassed wealth for himself. Some of that wealth had been used to acquire the status symbols of his day. God had enough of him and pronounced judgment.
Vs 15 & 16:
Pray that God will bring about a great confrontation of the Shebnas (all those abusing their offices) in all our educational institutions (vs 15), that will result in:
- A great questioning of everything they are doing – even things that were done long ago that may have been forgotten (vs. 16).
- A great questioning of what they have accumulated and whom they have positioned in the major places to ensure that the looting of public resources, and the propagation of ungodly agendas go on unchecked (vs. 16).
- Exposure of what they have done with stolen public funds (vs. 16).
- A return of even what they have hidden in far away places (vs. 16).
- Pray that they will vomit out the stolen riches they have swallowed (Job 20:15).
Vs 17:
Pray that God Himself will:
- Seize them (when God grabs someone or something there is absolutely nothing ANYBODY can do about it – nothing can be snatched out of God’s hand)
Vs 18:
Pray that God will:
- Cut their arrogance down to size.
- Crumble them into a ball (when something is crumbled into a ball it is squeezed and reduced in size).
- Throw them out of office in a way that they will not return to continue doing what they have been doing (when a ball is thrown out violently it bounces around until it finds a place to settle far away from its original position – now imagine God Himself doing that).
- Pray that as a result of what God will do to the Shebnas they will come to repentance and find the Way, Truth, and Life. (We do not pray for anyone’s demise, but we pray that their works, schemes and the networks they have created will all die).
Vs 19:
Pray that God will:
- Drive the corrupt out of office – so that they no longer hold the offices that they have held.
- Pull them down from their position. Many times Shebnas leave office but still wield considerable influence on institutions because of money, connections, or the networks they created while still in office. Ask God to do a thorough job and pull them down from any positions of influence that they currently have.
Also, pray that God will:
- Arise and judge the stubbornly corrupt, arrogant and self-seeking in all educational institutions and across the country (Psalm 68:1-3).
- Close the doors of leadership in the institutions and across the nation to the Shebna-type leaders: leaders who like the leeches in Proverbs 30:15, exploit those that they lead.
Vs 20 – 25:
Pray that God will raise the Eliakim-types of leaders for the institutions and all across the country. Ask Him to:
- Clothe them with robes of responsibility
- Fasten on them a belt of strength
- Commit responsibility into their hands
- Lay on their shoulder the key of David – the ability to open and close doors as the final authorities. Sometimes upright people are in authority, but they do not have the ultimate power to make decisions. Ask God to raise Eliakims to top positions of both policy making and decision making in our institutions.
- Fasten them like a peg in a secure place (When God does this, no man or scheme will be able to remove them). Pray that He will firmly establish and defend them from the schemes of crafty and wily men coming from within the nation and internationally.
Eliakims are faithful stewards over Uganda’s institutions and resources with a renewed mindset who:
- Understand that God owns everything. Man is merely a steward on His behalf, and every generation is a steward for the next generation (Psalm 24:1 – The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it).
- Understand and practice the principle of accountability. They know that they are ultimately accountable to God, and also practice accountability to the people they lead.
- Father and nurture their institution and communities, and do not exploit and abuse them.
- Increasingly bring their organizations and communities to places of honor.
- Are strong, like a peg fastened in a sure place, able to carry institutional, community and national burdens responsibly.
- Are firmly established and secure from the schemes of crafty and wily men from both within the nation and internationally.
Earnestly pray and spiritually decree that the doors of our educational institutions will open up for the Eliakim-type leaders.
Isaiah 32:1-8 (NLT)
Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land. Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it. Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer will speak out plainly. In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes. Scoundrels will not be respected. For fools speak foolishness and make evil plans. They practice ungodliness and spread false teachings about the Lord. They deprive the hungry of food and give no water to the thirsty. The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil. They plot crooked schemes. They lie to convict the poor, even when the cause of the poor is just. But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.
Pray that God will raise righteous and honest leadership into all places of authority in the education sphere who will:
- Shelter their learners the storms blowing against society
- Serve as a shadow – a place of rest and refreshment
- Refresh their learners like a drink of water refreshes a weary desert traveler;
- Be honest, speak the truthful and open the eyes of their learner to see the truth and to see new horizons and possibilities.
Pray that God will remove unrighteous and dishonest leaders from places of authority in the education sphere:
- The hotheads or rash – the trouble makers, weak-willed, poor decision-makers, the greedy and selfish and unstable;
- Those that enter the sphere of education with evil plans and schemes;
- Those who lie and pervert truth and justice;
- Those who practice ungodliness depriving their learners and those who are hungry for knowledge through corruption and other means.
Pray that God will bring us to a season where the leadership at all educational levels is truly honorable, noble, selfless and generous.
