An Unlikely Teacher

Wednesday night's have turned into a smorgasbord of students. I have two that are 2, a three year old, a four year old, two that are six, two that are eight, a nine and ten, and then four that are between twelve and fourteen. It gets a little crazy between bible story and craft time to say the least. And I love it. 

Last night I had a new student in my Wednesday night class. I asked him if he had ever been to church before and he said yes. He loved drawing his favorite bible hero for the opening project (Jesus on the cross). He listened intently to the bible story, completed his craft, and then proclaimed to me that this was his best day ever. He continued playing with the friends that brought him and some new ones he made. Then, completely out of the blue, he came straight up to me and let me know that he is the youngest of three. His brothers are quite older then him...and they don't go to church. In fact, they don't believe in God; they believe in the Devil. His words exactly. I finally had the opportunity to reply and I told him the best thing he could do as a little brother is pray for his older brothers. He proceed to inform me that he had...sixteen times to be exact. 

Now before I go any further, I want to point out one thing about this two minute conversation that provoked an entire blog post from me. This new little boy is only six years old, but "will be seven this year". A six year old, who most of the night played with building blocks, had trouble opening a glue stick, and made new friends during a round of duck, duck, goose has a deep compassion for his two brothers that no longer go to church, so much so that he has prayed for them. Consistently, I might add. I honestly cannot remember a time that I have prayed for something sixteen times or more. Yes, I do pray, but I feel I fall into a category of making too quick decisions when I feel God hasn't answered my prayers or just forgetting to pray through a situation because nothing has changed it. 

Both are unacceptable I realize, but it is the mentality of how most people pray. I know not all do. I feel one of the reasons I have been blessed with not just a man of God, but one who deeply loves and cares about me above himself is because of Isabel. Isabel is my second grandmother and since I was a teen, she has prayed everyday for me and for my future spouse. She prayed for me over ten years, over 4,000 days for my well being and my husband. This type of determination to see God move is what I desire and what we need more people in this world doing. 

Right now, our church staff is reading through "Draw the Circle: The 40-Day Prayer Challenge" by Mark Batterson. Yesterday's reading hit me hard. Mark started out by sharing how the bible described Cornelius. "He prayed to God regularly" Acts 10:2. He continues on in the short chapter to explain that when we try to expedite God's plan, we in reality delay it. I am a person who does this. I try to "fedex" what God wants with my own personal expertise plan. But Mark ends with two major points, that I feel were a perfect start to this new 40 day challenge.

From Mark: 

• Don't try to manufacture your own miracles. Don't try to answer your own prayers. Don't try to do God's job for Him. Stay humble, Stay patient. Stay focused. Keep circling. 
• If you pray regularly, irregular things will happen on a regular basis.

These two things I saw lived out in the heart of a six year old. He doesn't have answers for why his brothers don't go to church, but he knows to pray for them. He is doing that continuously. His brothers may come to church this Easter because of his prayers or they may not for many years, but I do know this little six year old is not giving up. He has shown me that, even in a fast pace, drive-through generation, my prayers are not to be. I need to stay patient, pray continuously and watch God move in my situations.

There's a tid-bit for you.