Sally Burke, President of Moms in Prayer, shares how we can become involved in praying for our schools, teachers, and students as the 2026-2027 school year begins.

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Dr. Jessica Peck prescribes hope for healthy families on American Family Radio

preborn.com/AFR hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck. Well, hey there, friends and welcome, to my favorite time of day, getting to spend time with you, prescribing hope for healthy families. And when we are looking for hope in the world, there is no shortage of forces that threaten to quench out our hope. If you ask parents today what keeps you awake at night when you think about your kids, let me tell you, there is a long, long list of things. The answers come very quickly. We know what we're worried about for our kids. We're worried about anxiety and depression and other Elements of mental health. We're worried about them being safe at school. We're worried about the influence of technology on them, social media, identity confusion, academic pressure. The list feels absolutely endless. And childhood seems more complicated than it was in generations past. Parenting never been easy. But there are a lot of moms and dads and grandparents and other invested adults today who feel like they are raising their children in an increasingly unpredicted world and they're increasingly ill prepared to deal with it. And in fact, parental stress has reached historic levels. I have some really good friends who are really very smart minds at academic institutions across the country, and they are doing high level, high quality research on parental stress and burnout, especially since the Cove 19 pandemic. And even though I know nobody wants to talk about that, that was forever ago. We've moved on. We really haven't. That ignited a stress crisis in parenting that was already sim simmering beforehand. But now we just see that surveys consistently show that parents report significantly higher levels of stress than adults who don't have children. And now we see this, this narrative saying, oh, well, I don't want to have kids because that's so stressful. And that is not the answer either. But many parents describe feeling overwhelmed by the overwhelming pressure to protect and guide and prepare their children for a future that we didn't experience growing up. And at the same time, children themselves are experiencing unprecedented rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness, emotional distress, self harm, and even death at their own hand. And as a pediatric nurse practitioner, I often remind families, we cannot control every circumstance our child will face. We just cannot. We have to let go of, that level of control as comfort. But the good news, the hope, is that we can influence the environment in which they grow. Healthy routines, secure attachment, open communication, strong faith practices, these are all evidence based based practices that build resilience. And that's what we want our kids to be. We do want them to be resilient in this world.

One of the most powerful and often overlooked protective factors is prayer

But one of the most powerful and often overlooked protective factors, I firmly believe, is prayer. And we often say, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, okay, I know, I know, I should pray for my kids. Yes, I pray for my kids. No, you should parade for your kids. Like that should be strategy number one. Prayer isn't something that it has all can always change your circumstances. But research even increasingly suggests it can change your attitude, it changes your anxiety levels, it improves your emotional regulation, it strengthens the hope that you have in this life and for eternity, and it cultivates resilience by helping us surrender those Things we cannot control. So for Christians, prayer is more than a, ah, coping strategy, a last resort, a cherry on top of the efforts that putting in. It is an invitation into a relationship with the sovereign God of the universe who sees what we cannot see, who loves our children even more than we do. And throughout scripture we are reminded to do this continually. Pray without ceasing. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. And if you're like me on some days, I think, okay, you sure you want all that anxiety? Because it is a truckload that I'm carrying around. God is big enough to handle that. And if we're honest, we know we should pray more, but we just aren't sure how to make that a part of everyday life or if we're really, really gut level honest. We wonder if it really makes a difference in the first place.

Sally Burke is president of Moms in Prayer International

Well, today we're joined by someone whose entire life has become a testimony to the power of praying for children, for schools and for families around the world. We have talked with her before and as school is starting again, wherever your kids are, this is such an important reminder for us. I invited her back. She is none other than Sally Burke. Now her story is anything but ordinary. She started her career as a space shuttle engineer, a real life rocket scientist just like my husband. Before earning a master's degree in management, she came to Faith in Christ with her husband. She was introduced to Moms in prayer in 1990, a moment she describes as life changing. And today she is president of Moms in Prayer International and she leads a worldwide ministry that serves mothers in more than 160 countries. Did you get that? 16 0. Encouraging women to exchange fear for faith through the transforming power of prayer. Sally, welcome back. I am so glad to have you back, friend. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Moms in Prayer started with your husband's conversion to Christianity

Sally Burke: Oh Jessica, what a joy to be with you. Everything that you said at the beginning is powerful and it's true. And, and yet God has handpicked each one of us and our children for this period of time and he's ready to work through us mightily for his glory and his purpose.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, that has been the story of your life. You know that from a personal testimony. So for those who maybe think, wait, I missed this. I didn't hear her the first time she was on. Can you give us a little recap of your powerful testimony of coming to know the Lord and him appointing you to lead this prayer ministry for moms?

Sally Burke: Well, Jessica, my husband was driving back and forth from m work and he was Listening to a radio, broadcast, just like what people are listening today. He heard the gospel, he believed. He pulled over and received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He comes walking in the door, and he lets me know. And I'm holding one child, and another child is at my leg. And he goes, sally, I just surrendered my life to the Lord. And all I can think of is what happened to my brilliant husband. And I watched his life be transformed. I watched that peace. I watched, just the joy. And it was from something else besides this world. So he buys me a Bible for Christmas, and I'm like, okay, well, that's an interesting gift. I guess I'll read it. And there, as he pointed me to the Book of John, I saw that Jesus Christ was Lord and Savior. And both my husband and I will tell you somebody was praying for us. There was somebody that opened up our hearts and our minds through the power of prayer. And it was there I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And my life has never been the same. I mean, I tell you from my background of science, to read Genesis and to see that scientific formula of time, energy, and space to create something from nothing. I mean, our God is brilliant. Our God is all power, powerful, almighty, and complete control. It's been amazing. It's been amazing to be able to walk with him day by day and moment by moment.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Sally, I'm always encouraged to hear testimonies like yours of the reconciliation. Your brilliant scientific mind saying, nothing is contrary to God's word. Science is in scripture. We, from the very beginning, just like you said, in Genesis, every story has an origin story, and we see our origin story starting in Genesis. Although God always is, always wasn't, always will be. And before Moms in Prayer became a global movement, it started with you. It started with that radio show, with your husband's transformation. And people can talk a lot about, you know, they can argue about those scientific elements of faith. Sometimes I see a lot of argument that. But it is very difficult to argue with the power of personal transformation. That happens. You describing. I wanted that. How did you get from. Okay, I want that faith to. Now I'm going to share this faith with women all over the world.

Sally Burke: Well, you know, the, Moms in Prayer began with Fern Nichols, the founder of the ministry. And her heart was. She was so overwhelmed. Her, boys were entering middle school and what they would face way back then in 1984. And so she asked God, give me one other mom. And I believe he allowed her to feel so burdened that she would grab another mom. They began to pray, and they began to see answers to prayer.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And.

Sally Burke: And then Fern goes on Focus on the Family, another radio station, other moms here. And it begins to grow. And I remember a, friend of mine grabbed me in 1990 and says, Come here. About praying for children in schools. And all I knew reading in scripture was prayer would bless my children that I knew and that I saw. And so as I came, I never prayed out loud before. But when I came into that door with those other moms, they just welcomed me in, they just brought me in and. And I sat there and we used four simple steps of prayer that somebody like me, who never prayed out loud before, sat there and I could hear the praises of God's people. And I knew I was home. This was my place. You got to know God by name, by attribute, by character, who he says he is in scripture. That's what grows your faith. That's how you can pray with great faith, believing that God can do that which is impossible. And then on the elementary school campus, we began to see answers to prayer. First it was with our own kids. Like our kids were getting these awards. And one mom's in prayer. Mom elbows me and she goes, look, they're all moms in prayer kids. And I, God, just placed on my heart, what about the other children? What about all the other third graders? Who's praying for them? So we began to pray for them by name. We take that yearbook, and we would pray that they would hear the words of truth, the gospel of salvation. Believe and be sealed with the power of the Holy Spirit. And God brings on to our public school campus a good news club. Over 100 kids would come and hear the gospel. I'm standing around, I'm, like, mind boggled as they are receiving Jesus. I volunteered, and they put their little hand in mine and pray to receive Jesus. Today. They're teachers, they're preachers. They're mighty men and women of God. I watched 15 out of 22 of those teachers, original teachers, come to know Jesus and started teachers in prayer on that campus. Nobody's too hard, nobody's too difficult. It was prayer. It wasn't us trying to convince, trying to sell Jesus. We would pray, the Holy Spirit would move in their lives, and somehow, some, some way, they would hear the gospel even on that public school campus. I like how one teacher said our public school campus was as if it was a Christian campus.

Even an unbelieving principal would come up to me and give me prayer requests

You would hear people share scriptures. You would hear the children sing, Christian songs that they had Learned in Good News Club. God was moving. And that's what opened up my eyes really to see the power of prayer. Even an unbelieving principal would come up to me and give me prayer requests. He goes, your God, your God is answering prayer. Your God is doing this. Can you please pray for this and this and this.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, Sally, you said something in the very beginning of your answer that really captured my attention. You said God allowed her, you're talking about Fern, to feel the founder of the Moms in Prayer International. God allowed her to feel so burdened that she would grab a friend. That really stuck with me and thinking about that because we know that God's word says when two or more are gathered, I am there. And so often we think, yeah, I'm worried about these things. And I think especially today, Sally, moms worry in silos. We almost don't want to speak those worries out loud because we worry that we'll like speak them into being like, oh, I don't want to say this is this is what happened because I have this fear and then I don't want people to know I have this fear because then maybe it'll come true or maybe it'll happen or you just have so much fear in that. I want you to encourage moms who think, yeah, I'm praying for my kids, I am praying for them. I've never prayed with anybody else about them. How do you break past that feeling of just fear and just speak those, those concerns before the Lord and before the presence of others?

Sally Burke: Yeah, every mother has those fears. I just want you to know that. I mean I get letters from all over the world. Just one from, Asia. Is this a country that, you know, we really don't share that moms and prayers there. But it's there. And she talked about her fears and she talked about how being part of a moms in Prayer brought that community, that community of praying women where they align together and where they give their fears to God together and lift up each other's arms. I mean there were times like I had both of my boys have life threatening diseases. One had to have a liver transplant. And there are times I go into my mom's and prayer group and I could place their name in scripture. Scripture never comes back. Void always fulfills God's purpose. But that was it. You know, I, I, I was so heavy burdened with are they going to live? And that other mom would come alongside of me and she would pray these prayers, a gift from the Holy Spirit, as if she knew the depths of what I was going through, the depths of the pain and the suffering.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Sally, I hate to end it right there, but listen. And we're going to pick up right there on the other side of our break. You can hear about the prayers for Sally's children, how we can share our prayer needs with others. Prayer is not just for spiritual excerpts. It is God's invitation for ordinary parents into extraordinary intervention. We'll have more with Sally Burke, Moms in Prayer International, right after this break. Hello, I'm Jessica peck, host of Dr. Nursemama. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.net/give that's afr.net/give.

Don't Stop Praying by Matthew West : When you've cried and you've cried till your tears run dry the answer won't come and you don't know why and you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time don't stop praying don't stop calling on Jesus name Keep on pounding on heaven's door Let your knees wear out the floor don't stop believing Cause mountains move with just a little faith and your father's heard every single word you're saying so don't stop praying.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back friends. That is Don't Stop Praying by Matthew west. And that's what I'm asking you to do today. Don't stop praying. As we see children going back back to school and most parts in the country, when we think of school age children, they're going back to school. Everywhere you go the school supplies are up. It is not yet quite time for the after Thanksgiving decorating Christmas people to be worried thinking the Christmas decorations are there but the school supplies are. When you walk into any store you see notebook paper and pens and pencils and glue and all of those things that you know for a person like me, I'm type A, I'm oldest, just oh I love, love, love school supplies. Others of you, you're like no, that brings back really terrible memories. I'm so glad I'm out of school. Wherever you are in that I am asking you when you walk into a store and you see school supplies, every piece of paper that you see, every pencil, every pen, every stapler, every highlighter is going to be used by someone and I, I ask that you pray for that person. I ask that you pray for that teacher. For that student who is going to be using those supplies, pray that God would meet them, that God would write a miraculous story in their lives. I'm challenging you to do that. And we're challenging you to pray for children going back to school and especially for those moms. We're encouraging you and inviting you to join an organization called Moms in Prayer International. I'm talking to the president of that today, Sally Burke. We've talked with her before. And listen, it's actually not just for moms. One of my favorite listeners mails, letters that I've gotten. I'm talking an actual letter was from a precious dad who heard this broadcast the last time we talked about it and said, you know, I realized I'm not a mom, but I am a dad who wants to pray for my kids. So I invited other dads to come over, and in my living room, we would use that Moms in Prayer guide. And we prayed for kids in school, if that. If you're listening out there, thank you so much for doing that. These are the kinds of things that give me hope in this world. And Sally, as we talked about before the break, prayer is not just for spiritual experts. Praying together matters, and you can build a lifestyle of prayer in your own homes. And Sally, you were just in the middle of talking about your two children, your own children going through really scary things and being vulnerable about those things. And there's power in prayer together.

Moms in prayer invites people to join you in prayer for your kids

I'm gonna let you pick it up right back from there and talk about what happened when you started intentionally inviting people to join you in prayer for your kids.

Sally Burke: One, that, child is impacted through your prayers. I want everybody to realize, just as God placed DAV and Daniel and Esther and Mary and Martha and. And Paul and all of them in their period of time, he has placed our kids in this period of time. But he tells us we have not, because we asked not. He is giving us opportunity to intercede on behalf of our children and the children throughout the world. And, and we're taking this opportunity very seriously. I mean, I've watched with my very own eyes, lives transformed as others simply yet, powerfully pray. Ezekiel 22. God, says, who will stand in the gap for me? Nobody stood in the gap. And yet we see that the children at that period of time of Israel are taken captive. Yet Moses stood in the gap for the children of Israel, and they made it to the promised land. God has ordained each and every day of your life and your children's life, and he has a mighty purpose. And a mighty plan. And the greatest gift we can give them is prayer. And prayer is not hard, hard. He did not make it hard. The four steps of prayer. I think about when Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He, he, he began it with praise. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. You know, we at Moms in prayer, we begin with his word, we praise him, we choose like three scriptures. God is omnipotent, all powerful God is true. You know, just whatever scripture that God brings to that leader's mind and, and then leads him through prayer. Then a time of silent confession. We don't want separate us from the very throne room of God. Time of thanksgiving where we hear I call the Holy Spirit party. A time where we hear answers to prayer. From a kindergarten learning to tie a shoe, a third grader best friend in Jesus Christ to what we're seeing on college campuses. Tens of thousands of students hearing the gospel and receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He is answering big. Our last step we take is intercession. We use God's word. How do you know as far as the heavens are above the earth? He says in Isaiah 55, life, are his ways above ours. His word does not come back void. It always fulfills his purpose. So we pray forth his word and then we watch him answer. And you know, I have many plans for my kids lives and I've watched God answer differently than what I planned. You know, I watched the scripture come alive in their life. I if it was up to me, they would not suffer, they would not have pain. Yet through their suffering, through their pain, I've watched them, I've watched them love God deeper and richer in Christ. I would never change that, that I would never change who they are in Christ. But those sisters, just like when Moses grew tired when the children of Israel were in battle, he had two friends lift up his arms. There are many times I would need two friends to come alongside of me and lift up my arms and pray for my child as if it was their own child. And that's really the gift of moms in prayer. That's why it's grown. That's why it's all over the world. every continent around the world. Because every mom, every woman out there, we have three country coordinators that are not moms. Every woman out there needs another praying mom. And the children of this world are in desperate need of our prayers. So, so we need to follow what God tells us to do. Just one hour once a week and pray.

Sally, talk a little bit more about answered prayer

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, let's Talk a little bit more about answered prayer, Sally, because, you know, I think you've already quoted the scripture. You have not, because you ask not. And I think about how much God loves to give good gifts to his children. And we are encour to come before the throne room of God and to give our prayers and to present our requests to God. We're told that that's, that's one of my favorite scriptures. Present your request to God with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is the way forward. And when you start to know, Sally, the character of God, you know that when you present a request to him and he can answer that, he can say yes, he can say no, he can say not now. And when I found that when I started keeping a prayer journal and keeping track of these things, I would not so easily remember the things that he said yes to. Because sometimes I think, you know, I would pray for this and it would just consume my thoughts and minds and for a season of our life. And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, that prayer is answered. And it just kind of falls off the conveyor belt like, okay, great, that's not a concern anymore. And you forget that God was faithful to answer that, to move in that situation when God says no, Sally. And I know that I poured my out before the Lord. I know I have asked him and asked him and asked him. I think of Psalm 84, 11. The Lord God is a son and a shield. He gives grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. And sometimes looking back, I can see, just like you said with your sons, you. You see that God allowing something or not allowing something in their life for their good, it produces character. And of course we know character, hope, right? I hope that doesn't disappoint. And sometimes we continue praying. What kind of answered prayers have you seen? And, and I have the. And even for my, my prayers I feel like are unanswered. I have the confidence knowing I asked the Lord and he is for my good. If he is for me, who is against me, and I'm going to trust his character. What kind of answered prayers have you seen, Sally? Through Moms in Prayer International. What does that teach us about the character of God?

Sally Burke: Oh, my goodness. How faithful he is and how he knows the plans he has for them.

Dr. Jessica Peck: He.

Sally Burke: He knows all things and he knows why he created them. I, I think about and I may have shared this one happened with you before, when my son was 12 years old, playing baseball, sitting on the bench a lot, I'd pray, oh, Lord, may you at a home run, may you catch the winning catch. Show that coach. But in Mom's in prayer, I was praying, that he would not grumble and complain about anything, that he would be a pure and innocent child of God holding out the word of life. And the coach comes up to me one day and he goes, your son's a Christian, isn't he? And I'm like, well, how do you know that? And he goes, says, well, because he doesn't grumble or complain about anything. He just shares the Lord. And I thought, oh, oh, God, that's your plan for his life? And not a superstar baseball player. There are those that share Jesus. But he went on to his high school campus sharing Jesus during his lunchtime. You know, it's God who knows the plans he has for them. And they're for good, for a future and for a hope for them. And that's something we can stand on. It's. It's for their. Our very best. It's for God's glory, for God's purpose, and life. And, and so as you pray forth His Word, you're going to see that being answered. Maybe not in the way you thought it would be answered, but you're going to see it being answered in a far greater. His heart's desire is, is, that. That you would love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love others as you love yourself. Well, he also wants you to know the height, height, the depth, the width, the length, the, the love of Christ so you can be filled up to complete fullness of him, so he can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according, to his great purpose and his glory. And I, I think about as we fill ourselves up with him, that great love as we know he loves us and he loves our kids. He will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine according to, to his glory and according to his purpose. And I think that's the perspective we have to have our children. We don't own them and we don't know the future. They're gods. And when we go before and when we, we intercede on their behalf, God opens up the floodgates, you know, to move in their lives. And that's why it's the great sadness when people don't pray or that other mom that comes alongside of me and prays a prayer. I would Never have thought of. Of never I thought of. And then it gets answered. And I'm thinking if I miss that moms in prayer group, I would have missed that blessing from heaven. I would have missed out on that for, on behalf of my child. So I never want to miss my mom's in prayer group. I always want to be there. What does that other mom have from the Holy Spirit to pray, to bless my child with? And, and so that's a long answer

Dr. Jessica Peck: for, for your question. Well, that is okay. It's a great answer.

So many parents have fear about their kids

And it brings us right back to where we started with fear, I think, Sally, because so many parents have fear. And you know that from time to time I still practice in school based settings. So I'll go sub for a school nurse for the day or I'll go do sports physicals. And I love, love, love being able to go into a school and interact with kids. It's like, I feel like it's my play day, you know, because it's so fun. I love just seeing God make so many children just so uniquely and wonderfully and beautifully and I love being able to interact with them. But you know, not too long ago we had a school shooting that was adjacent to my community and it was, it was horrible. I was working in the healthcare facilities in the hospital where a lot of the children were taken care of. And the first time that I went back to the school after that, I felt afraid. And I hadn't felt afraid before, but I did feel afraid. As I, I'm lacing up my, my cheery sneakers. I just felt like it was this weird sort of moment where I felt, I thought, if I'm an adult and I. My faith and I'm afraid, what are kids feeling? Those fears are really real, Sally. The fears of things that we're facing with our kids. But just as what we've described about the character of God, about how he is for us and he has made us more than conquerors. He has set us for such a time as this, speaking those fears out loud to me when I am alone in my own mind, I mean, my thoughts just start escalating and it is like about 0.2 seconds before I'm a full fledged Chicken Little and the sky is falling. But when I sit with another mom and I say, you know what? I feel afraid going to the school today. And I don't like that. I don't like the way that I feel and it burdens me for kids and that friend is able to speak over me. And pray over me and say, God has not given you a spirit of fear. Jessica, you, you go into that. I will pray over you today. And knowing that all of a sudden I don't feel as afraid anymore. And just like you said, sometimes they'll, God will put it on their heart to pray something. I thought, I hadn't even thought to pray for that. And then all of a sudden, you know, I encountered that situation. I think, okay, God put that in her. Show me his character to show me that he cares, that he knows what I'm walking into. I want you to encourage one more time the power of praying together. Because so often we're like, no, we'll just, we'll pray on our own. Pray on our own. Encourage. Call these moms, Sally. Call them to go to a Moms in Prayer international group to pray together.

Sally Burke: Oh, you don't want to miss out. Just like I said that, that mom's going to bless you and your child. Just like what you said, you stand together and there's very little faith fear. But in that mom's in prayer group, you're going to learn to praise him and thank him. And, as you praise and thank God, this is scientific fact, Dopamine, feel, the neurotransmitter begins to, to secrete your mind. You go from fear to joy, to peace. I mean, that's, that's mind boggling. and, and so like, I've even taught my kids the four steps of prayer. They learned it young. So that that verse in Psalms 139, crying, Lord, search me, know me. See if there be any anxious way in me, lead me to everlasting. Because fear and worry is, is, is normal. Like a dog's running after you. It gives you that adrenaline to go, but what do you do with that fear? What do you do with it? You take it to the Lord. And then you remember who he is, and begin just to, to praise him. And watch how that transforms your mind. Remember, the world is trying to conform you. The world would love you to be fearful, worried because, because then we're paralyzed. You know, fear secretes, something that just really paralyzes you. and you think about how as God begins to transform you in the renewing of your mind of who he is and his promises for you. And as you witness that you become transformed by the renewing of your mind to show God's good, acceptable and perfect will. So as you gather with other women, they're helping you, transform your mind. You know, one of them is oh, Lord, I. I praise you, because you are faithful. Your mercies are new every day. And that in your mind is being transformed. It's just being transformed. And so fear has no place. You can make new neural pathways. Instead of going to fear automatically, you can go to praise. And so it's a habit of life. But that other mind, mom, always helps you. I mean, throughout scripture, we see the disciples were afraid Jesus was crucified, but, they were together praying, and in comes Jesus walking, you know, and there they get filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And just as you said, we're two or more gathered. He's in their midst. He is in their midst.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And you're speaking my language, Sally, when you're talking about the science of it, you and I can really nerd out on the science. But you're absolutely right. We're already at our next break, but we have more to talk about with Sally Burke. The president of Moms in Prayer International will tell you how you can find a group near you when we come back. You won't want to miss it. We'll see you on the other side of this break.

Joseph Parker: A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker. He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in him I will trust. Psalm, 91, verses 1 and 2. In a perilous world, so many people are afraid. They're fearful. In a world where inner cities and many other communities are just simply dangerous places to be, we see the drug trafficking, human trafficking, muggings, murders, physical and sexual abuse. There is a place of safety in this world, and it's found in God. It's found in that secret place, that intimate relationship with God. No one can protect you like God can. But it's important for us to do our part to appropriate, to place ourselves in that secret place. Praying Psalm 91. Every day is a very wise thing for all believers to do. No one can protect you like God can.

Somebody Prayed by Crowder: Every night there by your bed, you fold your hands and bow your head, throwing out another prayer in faith. When you're wondering if he's hearing you look at me, I'm living proof I'm only right where I am today because somebody pray. So I hit my knees. Have no power but there ain't and I he don't come through. That's why when mountains m move, I, say, looks like somebody pray.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is somebody prayed by Crowder. And did you know that at this very moment, there is some someone somewhere in the world who's praying for your kid? That is really true. We're talking to Sally Burke president of Moms in Prayer international group of moms who are praying for kids who are in school. They're praying for their own kids, but they're praying for your kids, too. They're praying for all kids. And prayer is such an underrated, underused strategy. We have to go to the throne of God to intercede on behalf of our kids. Now, prayer is not some magical cure all. It doesn't remove every challenge that our children will face. It doesn't somehow make the world magically safe, but it does change the posture of our hearts. Instead of parenting from a place of fear, we learn to parent from a place of faith, knowing that God is for us and God wants what's best for us, and his mercies are new every morning. And we are talking about how, how we are inviting you to join that journey of prayer. Because our children are spending thousands of hours each year in schools, encountering teachers and classmates and ideas, frankly, and opportunities and challenges that are shaping who they're becoming. And that is why this is such an important mission field. I said it before. I'll say it again. When you walk into the store and you see all of those school supplies, whether it brings a smile or to your face or groan to your spirit, I ask you to pray over those supplies because they will be used by a soul that is precious in the sight of God. I pray that you would pray for those children.

You said you taught your kids how to pray from a young age

And, Sally, before the break, we are talking about the power of just praying together. We know that God's word says, when two or more are gathered, there he is in our midst. And this is probably one of the most common barriers that I see to moms getting involved in prayer, because praying in front of somebody, all of a sudden, it feels like a pop quiz. And we're like, God, I don't know how to do. You said you taught your kids how to pray from a young age. I'm sure there's some even grownups thinking, okay, wait, how is that again? And teach me that? And it can be really intimidating. How do we just put on a posture of humility and go in to learn and to say, I want to be a prayer warrior. You got to start somewhere. Where do you start? How do you start?

Sally Burke: Yeah, I'll tell you. Every single mom's in prayer.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Mom.

Sally Burke: When you go into their group, they've been where You've been at. Nobody is born a mighty prayer warrior. And so they just bring you right on in, and they keep it very simple. I think about when the Lord again taught his disciples to prayer. It wasn't like a long list. Our part is more to hear his heart and to pray forth his word.

Dr. Jessica Peck: So it.

Sally Burke: It's not. It's not hard. It's simple enough. Like I said, I taught my kids the four steps of prayer on our website. We have tons of tools, but I want you to get over your fears so much because your kids need your prayers. They, they. I mean, to this day, I send out scripture prayer. My, My kids are all grown. They're from 40 down. They have children of their own, and they're always, thank you, Mom. Love you. They know they need that, that prayer, that, that scripture prayer. They, they. They know the difference. When, I prayed for a school and when I didn't pray, when my oldest went to middle school and I wasn't praying for a school, mom, you got to start a group for this school, too. He could tell the difference. I was at Liberty University talking to the department and letting them know that there's. There's an army of praying women out there for you. They couldn't get enough of it. These young men would just surround me. We finally ended where they, like, somebody goes, do you want her just to pray for you right now? They're like, yeah. And these guys huddled around and. And there I. I prayed for them. They. They're on those campuses. They understand that the world's trying to conform. It. It. You know, there's fears, there's worries, yet they get it. That prayer is going to transform them. God will change the history of, what will happen in this generation. He's already doing it. I mean, I, I can't keep up with all the answers to prayer. I have ministry leaders sending me Sally. We've never seen so many students at the beginning of the year coming to our Christian group. We're watching them, share the gospel on their campus. It's just growing, and it's growing going on college campuses. It's unbelievable. Just in the state of Florida, at the end of last year, school year, three different college campuses just had a big revival where tens of thousands of them heard the Gospel, thousands of them received Jesus. This is our time of favor. If I could get that, say it's right now, I don't know how long. God's favor is where we're going to see this tremendous amount of revival. We want to see our school campus transformed. We must be praying. And you, another mom will just help you. It will just give you that confidence, that freedom. And we never judge each other because all of our kids have fallen. All of our kids have fallen short

Dr. Jessica Peck: of the glory of God.

Sally Burke: None that are perfect were there one for another, because God is the center of it all.

Dr. Jessica Peck: It's so true, Sally. I think of that all the time. I think, you know, just because I do what I do or I'm in ministry, it doesn't. Or I'm praying for them, it doesn't somehow give my kids some sort of magical immunity to sin. They are never going to sin. They are never going to fall. They are never going to be harmed. I put this protection that is not of God, but it does better equip me to handle it. And I do believe that God does intervene, that he does give them protection that I've asked for, that maybe they wouldn't have had otherwise. I do believe that. But when we. When I'm talking to you, Sally, it makes me so happy. Because when I talk to just kind of people who are out there, who maybe they don't have kids who are growing up in school or they're just getting information from the media, there's such a pessimism, like, oh, this generation is just so terrible. And, and, you know, the. The world is not what it used to be. And we commute, communicate to kids. This is a terrible time to be alive. But when I talk to people who are face to face, like you talked about at Liberty University with engineering students, or I'm face to face with nursing students, or what, wherever I am, I see God at work.

Sally Burke: And.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And you tell me that ministry leader after ministry leader tells me that they are saying they see revival, they see God raising leaders, they see hope. Give that message loud and clear, Sally, for those whom media messages are overwhelming with messages of despair.

Sally Burke: yeah. Well, you and I know negativity sells.

We do not have every school covered, we would love to see every school covered

That's why you hear all the negative news, because it's addicting. People, you know, just have to hear it again and again. But I tell you, God is moving. He's moving powerfully. we do not have every school covered. we would love to see every school covered. But wherever we have, we are seeing revival and spiritual awakening to witness. Ministry leaders ask us, this school isn't covered. Can you please cover this school? Or. Sally, I can tell this school is covered because students are standing on their lunch table. I love this one. Middle school stood on his lunch table after receive Jesus and gave the gospel. The students started clapping in middle school and a public school campus clapping for him. It's. It's. It's an incredible time, and you don't want to miss out on it. I just think, Jessica, your radio. Your radio station and what you're doing is so important because people are hearing the gospel and coming to know Jesus as we pray. I love how the ministries call us the air force. We're opening up the hearts of the students, and then they go on and they share the gospel. And the students are like, yeah, yeah, I want to receive Jesus. Yes. Yes. How do I do that? Yes. And. And so that's what we're seeing right here, right now. And so do not miss out. Be part of it.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You're.

Sally Burke: You're. You'll be filled to overflowing with joy because you're filled to overflowing with his presence. It does not mean that life is not hard, but it's beautiful and it's wonderful. It's wondrous. I have students. Students. I. I sat with two students that I prayed for, like, 20 years ago, and we were at a, Christian high school, sharing with young women, you know, how do we live life with Christ? And two of them who are adults now came up to me and goes, you prayed for me. This is why I know Jesus. You prayed for me. This is why such and such. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I barely recognize them. They're adults now, so don't miss out. That one prayer you pray for that student will change their lives for all eternity. So we have this moment in time, and we want to take, every single moment God gives us.

Dr. Jessica Peck: I do believe that, Sally. And it's been a blessing to me to be able to teach at a Christian university where I can freely pray for my students. And so often they will tell me about the impacts of those prayers. And I think, oh, who am I? It's just one simple little prayer. And then that's when God reminds me about his character. When I think, think. Yeah. That's all the Lord calls us to do. Say a prayer, and he moves. Watch him move. It's about his power. It's made perfect in our weakness. One of the prayers I pray all the time comes from Romans 15:13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. And this is a generation where hopelessness sells, because I believe that marketing pressures, they pro. Are profitable when kids are in Search of hope, because they're trying to buy that through a lifestyle, through a life hack, through a treat yourself or whatever it is. The only hope that doesn't disappoint is found in the good news of Jesus Christ.

Join moms in prayer. All of our resources online are free, so you could even look at one of our prayer sheets

So, Sally, as we are just hyping this up and talking about the excitement, because we know, we have seen, you and I both have seen God work through the prayers of faithful, ordinary moms in very extraordinary ways. And moms are thinking, okay, all right, all right. I'm thinking about it. How do they find or start a great group?

Sally Burke: They go to momsinprayer.org and just fill out a form that says, join us and somebody will contact you.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And.

Sally Burke: And I don't want you to be worried about it. You can listen to that other mom and you can decide afterwards. But I would fill out the form so somebody will help you get started. And it's super simple. All of our resources online are free, so you could even look at one of our prayer sheets and see how very simple m it is. And. And I want to share with you right now, they did a study, and it was not a study, was just a regular study. One out of three students are interested in hearing about Jesus. Two out of three, if it's up here. So come join us. Be a part of what God is doing in this generation.

You've talked about the four steps of prayer that you taught your kids

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Sally, you talked earlier, you've talked several times about the four steps of prayer that you taught to your kids. And I know that's one of the resources that you have on your website, but I think there's maybe people who are listening who are saying, wait, what are the four steps? Do I know them? Can you give that simple framework as a starting place and an example of what kind of resources you equip mom comes with?

Sally Burke: Yes. Well, our four steps are very simple. It's how the Lord taught us to prayer. We start with praise on who God is by name, by attribute. we take a few minutes to praise him. Very simple praises, silent confession. Because we want our heart clean before the Lord. We want him to hear our prayers as we saw in Isaiah 6. and then in time of thanksgiving, we thank God for answers to prayer. Because every week we rush to question, oh, what did God do last week? How did he answer the prayer? We. We thank him, and then we intercede using God's word. We pray for our child. We pray for the other kids on the campus. We pray for the teachers, the administrators, the school bus, everything that impacts that school. And then we end by praying that mom's A prayer would stay pure, sanctified and set apart for his glory. But go to our website, you can see under resources. you'll see the prayer sheets. And that will give you a picture. And it's just one small sheet. And it may say, God is all powerful. And then it will give you scriptures that, ah, states that. And, and then it will give you a scripture for your child that you can pray for. But like I said, my, my kids were little like 2 to 12 when they learned to pray. And they all we would take Monday pray for one child, Tuesday another child when, you know, on and on we would go. And they learned to pray and they continue to pray. So I, I, I think it's a, you could take that prayer sheet and teach your own children to pray.

Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, Sally, one of my favorite stories about prayer is about a woman who worked in a juvenile justice teaching, classes. She would teach women, teach young girls who had come out of juvenile justice, and she would teach them, you know, life skills and kind of help them transition from juvenile justice back into the community. This one, worker had picked up a girl. It was taking her home. She was taking her home from one of the classes. And the girl said, I don't have, a Bible. And she was asking her, you know, what she knew about Jesus. And she said, I don't have a Bible. And the worker that I knew, she was really convicted to give her her Bible. But she thought, no, Lord, like, that's my Bible, like, and if, you know, you have an emotional attachment to a Bible, she thought, oh, I can't give her that. But then she remembered that she had prayed and written prayers for her own daughter in the margins of that Bible, Said, I pray this, this scripture for my daughter, for my daughter by name. And then she realized in that moment that her daughter's name was the exact same name of the girl she was driving in the car. And so when she gave her the Bible, it didn't, it was also, it was prayers for her daughter, but it was also prayers for that girl. And I see God moving in ways like that. There's so many examples. I know you and I both could, could speak for days about the ways that God has answered prayer. And I thank you, Sally, for all that you do to remind us that the greatest gift that we can give our kids isn't perfection. It is presence and faithful prayer. And as parents, we feel responsible for carrying the weight of our children's futures. And that can make us worried. But today's conversation reminds you that God never intended for you to carry that burden alone. He did not give you a fearful spirit. He gave you a call to be faithful. Prayer is not a last resort. It is a first response to release those fears you have, align your heart with God's purposes and faithfully entrust our children to the One who loves them infinitely more than we ever could. This is a beautiful promise that when we give our prayer requests to God, he guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And I pray as I always do, the Lord will bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. I'll see you next time.

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Sally Burke, President of Moms in Prayer, shares how we can become involved in praying for our schools, teachers, and students as the 2026-2027 school year begins.

Sally Burke, President of Moms in Prayer, shares how we can become involved in praying for our schools, teachers, and students as the 2026-2027 school year begins.

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More From The Dr. Nurse Mama Show With Jessica Peck

Sally Burke, President of Moms in Prayer, shares how we can become involved in praying for our schools, teachers, and students as the 2026-2027 school year begins.

It's Ask Dr. Nurse Mama Friday! Jessica talks about this week's healthy habit of being your child's protector. She focuses on recognizing the signs of abuse and how to cultivate healthy communication.

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