Good Job!

Read Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

 

We all want that pat on the back, to be acknowledged, or told that we did a great job.   If we don’t receive it, we feel defeated, and wonder why we even bothered.  Working with the youth and children I’m always planning things, whether it is a lock-in, a lesson, or a trip.  Of course I want to make a difference and do my best, but I also want someone to notice.

 

Recently, I had the youth go through prayer stations that were scattered all over the church.  They went in groups, but only 1 at a time into each room.  In there they prayed for a specific topic in a specific way.  There was usually something ‘hands on’ about how they would pray.  I was proud of myself and the neat ideas I had come up with at the stations.

 

The kids nor the adults seem to have much to say.  I was hoping that they would be so ‘into’ it that they would want to try something like it church wide.

 

After it was over, I went room to room cleaning up the props and such.  In one room they were suppose to pray for their friends that needed Christ.  I had a wooden cross about 3 feet tall that they were suppose to hammer a nail into for each of those friends they prayed for.  To my amazement, I found 60 nails in the cross that only 15 youth had participated in.  This was God telling me, “Yes, the kids’ hearts were into the prayer walk, and you are doing a fine job.”

 

The only pat on the back we need is from God.  Be still and listen.

 

Barrett Daff