Prayer

I have not been faithful in writing these past two weeks, but things have been really busy here. School has begun and I have ushered in 21 new little faces to my classroom. It has been a deeply challenging and yet sweetly pleasant few days as I seek to know my students and begin training them in their education. Some days I feel as though I spend the majority of my day dealing with discipline issues, character development and their personal crises. But the Lord has continued to remind me of the usefulness of being consistent and pressing on in those matters. These young hearts are sitting under my authority seven hours out of every day and I am now responsible for the outcome of their souls, which is of far greater importance than their intellectual education. If it were not for many distinct people the Lord placed in my life to teach me and mold me, I would not have been saved and sanctified at such a young age. I pray that for my kids, that they would see Christ in me daily, that I would actively live out my faith in a pure and undefiled manner. I have been reading a book on prayer by Charles Spurgeon for my quiet time, as I want to experience growth in this discipline. Prayer has been a struggle for me often, as I begin with good intentions and quickly become distracted by my own selfish desires and meditations. It cannot be said better than Spurgeon: "First, in order for God to make you greatly useful, He must teach you how to pray. The man who is a great preacher and yet cannot pray will come to a bad end. A woman who is noted for her Bible teaching and yet cannot pray will also come to a bad end. If you can be great without prayer, your greatness will be your ruin." Now that is a frightening thought!!! Spurgeon goes on to address our motives in prayer by saying, "If your desires are the longing of fallen nature, if your desires begin and end with your own self, and if the primary purpose for which you live is not to glorify God but to glorify yourself, then you may fight, but you will not have. You may get up early and stay up late, but nothing worth gaining will come of it." When I think of the things I am praying for, I realize how often they are linked to what I want and what I think should happen, without bowing my knee to the good providence of God Almighty! Lord, make me humble and grant me a heart devoted to Your purposes and desires!