Praying for Our Students, Intro/Group Lesson

Jaden

              Jaden showed up on my class roster six weeks after the school year began. I found out he was related to someone who worked at the school, and he was living with them temporarily. Jaden loved everything about lunch and P.E. and hated everything about academics. He wasn’t a bad kid, he just didn’t like paying attention or exerting any kind of effort.

              Halfway through the school year, we held a parent/teacher conference. Jaden was failing most subjects and if he didn’t put forth some kind of effort, he would repeat fourth grade. He sat in the meeting with us and hung his head. Something bigger was bothering him, but I couldn’t identify the root.

              Later that afternoon, his caregiver knocked on my office door. She entered, sat down, and slowly helped me piece the puzzle together. Jaden’s father was in prison. He had been in prison for a very long time; so long that Jaden barely remembered him. His mom was not in his life and his grandmother, who had been taking care of him, and his mom was too sick to continue in her responsibilities.

              “I bet he’s excited about getting to know his dad soon, right?”

              His relative shook her head. “He knows his dad and mom will run off together and disappear into the drug scene again. He’s dreading it.”

              My heart broke in ways I didn’t know how to mend without asking God for his needle and thread. Absent dad. Absent mom. Sick grandmother. New town. No wonder he seemed distant and out of sorts.

              The next day, I asked Jaden if I could talk to him in my office before we started our lesson. Thinking he was in trouble, he came in with a huff. I gently shut the door and sat across from him. “Jaden, tell me about your dad.”

              Tears formed and dripped from his face. After a minute or two of silence he spoke. “My dad is in prison.”

              I nodded and waited for him to keep talking.

              “He’s getting out next month. I wish he wasn’t.” He wiped tears with his shoulder.

              “Why, Jaden?”

              “Because he’s gonna go back to doing drugs like before. And mama will too.”

              I silently prayed and asked God to give me the right words for this moment. How could I comfort a kid whose world was literally coming apart at the seams? “I wish I knew a way to help your mom and dad see that you need them here. But I can’t. And I wish I could wave a magic wand and make your grandmother well too. But I’ll tell you what I can do. If you’ll put forth some effort in class, anytime you are having a sad moment, I’ll give you permission to come hide in my office until you get past it.”

              For the first time in our conversation, his eyes met mine. “Really?”

              I nodded. “And I promise anytime you get stuck on your work I’ll help you. But you have to let me know.”

              He gave me a half-smile and wiped his face on his shoulder again.

              From that point on, I made a point to pray for Jaden. Any time he crossed my mind, or I noticed him acting out of character, I took him to God. And just like God does, he worked behind the scenes in Jaden’s life. By the end of the year, his grandmother was well enough for him to return to her home, and his grades came up enough he was promoted to fifth grade.

              Our students need prayer. So often it takes last place to other interventions. This week our focus is prayer. May we intentionally break down the doors of heaven with powerful prayers for our students.

Scripture Reading:

Read Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

              I’ve always heard: “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.” That’s the very thing we see happening in the parable Jesus tells. Because of the woman’s perpetual pestering, the judge relented, if only to get her to leave him alone. The concept Jesus is teaching is that we, too, must remain faithful to God in prayer; so much so that we “pester” him with our requests. We must never grow weary in praying for those we love and care for. Ever.

Discussion

1.      In what ways are we praying for our students on a daily basis?

2.      Which is easier: intervening in a physical way, or remembering to leave them with Jesus in prayer? Discuss.

3.      Are there any other techniques that might have helped Jaden? Share.

4.      Personally, who are you regularly praying for? Are you persistent, or have you grown weary? Discuss.

Personal Reflection

              Have you ever had someone pray for you for an extended period of time? A parent? Mentor? Friend? Relative? Teacher? What impact did those prayers have on your life?

              Is there someone you have prayed for long-term? Did God answer or are you still waiting? Spend time considering your prayer life and make any adjustments that might be needed.