Never Give Up

School is in full force these days. Is it really about to be October? Time is flying by right now! Over the last few weeks, I have found myself thinking over and over again about the power of prayer. As I have written before, I have experienced doubt where I questioned the purpose of prayer. But...in true fashion, the Lord uses small whispers and unlikely things to get our attention. I will explain:

A few weeks ago, my school was having some renovations done to the playground which limited our use for recess time. One particular day, my teaching aide and I were trying to play a movie for the kids to watch. We tried different DVD players, computers and projectors and nothing was working. Finally, she remembered that there was a T.V. and a DVD player already hooked up in another room. As we took the kids to a different room, I just knew that this time we were going to get the movie to play. Alas, this was not the case. In the midst of our frustration, I could hear my dad reminding me to "pray about everything" as he had done so many times growing up. I asked my aide and my students to stop what we were doing and pray that we could get the movie working. The second she said "Amen" she pressed one button and the movie started playing, No. Lie.

For many of you, this might seem like nothing extraordinary but for me it was a gentle reminder. God is still God and He still answers prayers no matter how big or small they may be. Even though God called my dad Home, it doesn't mean that I should give up praying. My Uncle Rick shared a story recently about their grandmother who was a fierce prayer warrior. He recalled how, at her funeral, my dad said that some people in our family would have to step up and take her place as  a prayer warrior for our family. This story resonated with me. At the time of Grandmother Rush's death, Dad was spurred on by her life as it challenged him to up his prayer game. For those of you who didn't know my dad well, he got up every morning without fail and prayed for about 2 hours before his day began. How many of us do that? I know that I am guilty of letting my alarm clock snooze until the last possible second and forfeiting my time in the presence of our Lord in exchange for more sleep. My dad knew that he needed time with his Savior to prepare his mind, heart and thoughts for the challenges and decisions he would face each day. More importantly, Dad never gave up on God. He didn't stop getting up to pray when he faced personal struggles or he challenges at work or when God told him "No." He was confident in the sovereignty of God and knew that God knows what He is doing better than we do. 

I hope Dad's example will begin to spur you on, as it will me, to improve your prayer life. May we call upon Jesus each day and bring to him our worries and fears as well as our thankfulness for his grace and mercy. May we not be discouraged when the answer to our prayers is "No" and place our trust in Him and His Sovereignty. 

In the words of Winston Churchill, " Never, never, never give up." 

For His Glory,
Jessica