Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Republic resident publishes book of school prayers
Article
in Republic Monitor Newspaper, Republic, Mo.
7-31-13 * By
Katie Barton
When
students and teachers return to the classroom this August, there will be a few
prayers said for them—or at least read for them.
Republic
resident David Burton’s new 57-page book, “Prayers for my Public School” is a
collection of 195 written prayers focused on public education.
The
idea for the book began about two years ago when Burton attended a global
leadership summit at Remington’s in Springfield.
"I
just heard speaker after speaker talking about how God can take kind of small
actions, small things and turn it into big things for a big impact,” Burton
said. “And that was also the same year Republic was in the news quite a bit for
things that you'd rather not be in the news for."
At
the summit, Burton was inspired to begin sharing the prayers he said with his
two children each morning before school.
So,
he created a Facebook page, “Pray for the Republic School District,” and each
morning he would post a short prayer after his morning Bible study time.
Initially,
the Facebook page was just followed by Burton’s friends and family members. He
said that as things happened along the way, the page began picking up more
followers.
In
March 2013 when a car crash killed one Republic High School student and
seriously injured another, the number of likes and shares on the Facebook page
grew. Burton said some of the prayers posted reached about 15,000 people.
“So
I thought, OK, well maybe this is serving a purpose ... maybe people are
getting something out of this,” Burton said.
About
a year ago, Burton’s wife began encouraging him to begin collecting the prayers
he was posting. Burton said when he began collecting the prayers, he began
developing the idea for a book that could reach people who aren’t on Facebook.
Many
of the prayers published in “Prayers for my Public Schools” have been posted to
the Facebook page, but Burton said there are a few exceptions.
With
195 prayers, there are enough prayers to cover the entire school year and a few
extras for the week before school begins and Christmas break.
Burton
said he doesn’t see the book as a money-making venture, but rather a way to get
individuals praying for the overall health of schools in a supportive way.
“The
prayers in there are not magical sayings or anything like that,” Burton said.
“I've always wanted the focus to be on God and what he can do through prayer.
Whether that be just me, or whether it be 600 people on Facebook or another 100
with a book at their nightstand. God's really the hero in all this, he's the
one that can make things happen—not me."
And
as for the Facebook page, Burton said fans will continue to see prayers posted
every morning.
“I
don’t have any plans to stop the Facebook page, Burton said. “I’m going to
continue doing that.”
"Prayers
for my Public School" is available on Amazon.com.
