By Nate D. Long, Head of School
If your relationship with Jesus is anything like mine, sometimes you need Him to hit you upside the head with a 2x4 to drive home a point. In recent weeks, I have felt that 2x4 more times than I would like to admit. Time after time, my prayer life has been brought to the forefront of my mind during times in the Word, conversations, and sermons. This week at church was no different with a sermon from Mark 9 focused on, you guessed it, prayer.
We all know the importance of consistent prayer in our lives. It is a direct line of communication to our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. If we are going to build relationship with Him, we need to spend time with Him. Prayer is one of the essential spiritual disciplines that help us do this. In Mark 9:14-29, we see a story of a desperate father hoping for an evil spirit to be taken from his son. At the end of the account, His disciples asked the question, “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus had entered their conversation after their own failed attempts to help the father solve the problem of evil in his son. What was Jesus’ response to His disciples' questions? “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” It was a soft and gentle reminder to His disciples that they could not do it. They needed to bring this to the Lord, pray, and ask for His power to do the work.
Earlier this week, I was talking with one of our upper school students, and he told me that he would be sharing the Word with his church this weekend for their youth Sunday. What an extraordinary opportunity for this young man to stand behind the pulpit and share what the Lord was teaching him! Want to guess the topic of his sermon? Yes, prayer. When I asked him what he felt the Lord has placed on his heart to be the core of the message, it was simple, “for younger kids to learn why they pray and how cool it is.” A simple, yet powerful statement all pointing back to the power of prayer.
We have much to pray for in our lives and our community. That not-so-subtle 2x4 may be hitting us all on the head as we walk through our lives. Are you giving intentional time daily to prayer? Are you relying on your own strength or are you walking in faith and bringing all your requests, petition, praises, and thanksgiving to Jesus? If you walk into my office and look at my whiteboard, you will see a small note I wrote to myself seven years ago when I started as the Head of School: "Pray, Read the Word, Walk the Halls, Thank You." It is a simple reminder to Go to Jesus, Know Him, Be Present, and Be Grateful.
This week, let’s commit to ABIDE in the Lord through prayer. Start your morning by going to Him with all that is weighing on you, all you have to be thankful for, and all you dream of doing for His glory but only by Him. Let’s be a community committed to praying before anything else, no matter the issue. Let’s give it to God.
Gratefully,
Nate
