Why we didn’t pray for finals this week

We did NOT pray for finals this week in small groups… at least in my group. During our prayer time this week our high school students split up according to grade. I was with the freshmen for prayer time. I enjoy being with them because freshmen are… well… cute. Sometimes they are goofy, sometimes they are passionate, sometimes they are just freshmen. I love our freshmen. I also love praying with them because they all seem very sincere when they pray.

Almost every time I am in a prayer group with a high school student school is mentioned as a prayer request. Rightly so, because school does take up 2/3 of their waking life until graduation. But this week we did not pray for finals, or anything else of the sorts.

Instead, we prayed through the Christmas story. We were talking about Jesus’ birth narrative during the teaching time, focusing on how Mary and Joseph were obedient and faithful even during times of extreme hardship. We thanked God that Mary was honorable enough to follow her fiance to Bethlehem for the census being 9 months pregnant. We praised God for the integrity of Joseph during cultural hardship. We asked God for the faith of the shepherds who left their flocks to see the savior. We marveled at Mary giving birth in a strange place with no family around. Mostly, we gave praise to God for coming to be God in flesh in the most humble of ways.

So, we didn’t pray for finals. We prayed that even during finals, or whatever going on in life we would be able to stop and remember the birth of our savior. I hope you can do the same.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14