The purpose of the news is to make us pray. I am convinced that immeasurably good things would happen if we prayed about the news rather than complained about it all the time. [And yes, I am totally sick of nasty political ads and wish it was mid-November right about now.] God calls us to pray continuously: in times of crisis, blessing, need, praise, all the time - we're supposed to pray. It's about communicating, talking to God. He wants to hear what we think and then He wants to tell us what He thinks... if we'll just listen. He wants to prepare us for hard times and share in our joy. We're supposed to pray, to want to pray. I'm so glad it just means to talk, just normal conversation.
All day I've been praying for students. Former students. Our junior high gets a big influx of students from the public elementary schools each year and then after 8th grade, they often go back into the public high schools. I am so aware that I only have two years to teach these students to stand up for the right thing because it's right, to bear the burdens of others, to love others - not only as we love ourselves - but with the new commandment that Jesus gave - to love others as He loved us.
A local high school student died in a car accident last night. As soon as I saw the two-sentence breaking news, I posted a message to my former students who are now part of that high school student body. It basically said this: "Armor-up. God is calling you to comfort and console, to be a voice for Him at your school tomorrow. We will be praying for you!" And we did. Our staff prayed for those former students this morning and many of us continued to pray throughout the day. As I followed comments on FB I realized that our students were answering God's call, listening, loving, helping, comforting, encouraging... and I was so grateful that they were ready and that we were praying.
The news is often discouraging; we need to recognize it as God's call to prayer. And pray.
2 comments:
So true. I'm sorry about what your kids are going through. It's such a blessing to be able to be part of kids' lives, isn't it? Even when it's terribly painful.
Ruth, you are so right. I am so proud of them right now and part of me feels guilty that my pride comes as a result of such great pain. But the Lord is really using them and I am so grateful that I got to be a part of their prep!
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