Watch Focus July 31st Pray For Our Education System

The Founders saw education as essential for the republic’s survival. They believed an informed and virtuous citizenry was the only thing that could protect liberty and self-government from tyranny and mob rule.

Jefferson pushed for broad public schooling, tying knowledge to morality. Adams enshrined education as a state duty in the Massachusetts Constitution. Washington wanted a national university to build a unified civic identity.

The Northwest Ordinance explicitly linked religion, morality, and knowledge to good government. Their shared vision was clear: without widespread education, the American experiment would fail. They saw education as essential to the republic’s survival, not optional.

The Founders argued that without an informed and virtuous citizenry, liberty and self-government would collapse into tyranny or mob rule. Jefferson, Adams, and Washington all shared this view, linking education to character and civic virtue. Their vision laid the groundwork for public education as a cornerstone of American democracy.

The key documents include Jefferson’s 1787 letter to James Madison and his Virginia Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge. The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, written by John Adams, enshrined the state’s duty to provide education. Washington’s final address to Congress in 1796 called for a national university, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 explicitly stated that religion, morality, and knowledge were necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind. This was the founders’ core vision.

Jefferson wrote to James Madison on December 20, 1787: “Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to; convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty.”

We pray for the restoration of this original educational foundation.

Isaiah 58:12, “Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”

Isaiah 54:13, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”

Psalm 51:6, “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”

Ephesians 5:8-10, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”

Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”