DESIRED AND REQUIRED
November 19, 2019
Prayer: May we walk humbly with You our God, and be filled with desire to listen, learn and love You more.
Scripture: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6: 8 NAS
How easy is it for you to tell the difference between an assignment that a student “just wanted to get through,” and an assignment that a student desired to do well? Even though both students met the requirement of turning in the assignment; is the attitude that they approached the assignment with important? Does attitude, and even affection for the subject, affect the way you feel towards a student? Can you see the difference in the life of a student who desires to exceed what is required? How does it make you feel when a student comes energetically and enthusiastically to class? How do you feel when this attitude carries over into their work? Does it make you feel appreciated or annoyed when they come to you for help? Annoyed or appreciated when they stop by to say, “good morning” or to share something with you about their life?
Of course you feel appreciated when a diligent student works hard to learn and make good grades. It does not annoy you if they come ask for help, you are glad they trusted you and felt that you were approachable. The ultimate compliment is to be invited into a child’s life, where they adore you enough to stop by and say, “Hi,” or show you a new purchase or share an idea or event. There needs to be an appropriate boundary between teacher and student; for example a teacher should never share details about personal problems or relationships with their students, but my family has always loved to know about our teachers’ family, hobbies, likes, etc.
These same points are true when it comes to prayer. God desires for us to walk humbly WITH Him. You would never spend an entire day with someone and not talk with them. Like our students, we should want to learn and our love for God motivate us to do things that please Him. Prayer is not an assignment. It is not graded, nor is it something we just turn in to check it off our to-do list. Our attitude and affection matter in our prayers. Like a good teacher, God wants us to be successful and He loves it when we ask Him for help.
How do you approach your prayer time? How do you feel when you miss it? Satan will try to make it as inconvenient as possible. God will always bless your time with Him. A student’s time with his/her teacher is never a waste of time.
Copyright Kathy Branzell Email [email protected]