God’s Label

Jesse entered Lashonda’s class with the unofficial label from his previous school’s teacher as “the craziest kid in the whole school.” Lashonda looked at his permanent record and read the litany of labels that psychologists had heaped on him – ED (Emotionally Disturbed), LD (Learning Disabled), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and bipolar. Rarely has she had the opportunity to serve a child with such an alphabet behind his name.

This eleven-year-old lived in chronic financial, emotional, social and moral poverty with an abusive stepfather. He was often lethargic and inattentive during instruction. He had great difficulty in writing legibly and completing tasks. He had periods of fits and anger, stole things from others and wrote a suicide note.

Immediately the campus prayer team at Lashonda’s school began to lift him up in their private prayers and when they met after school each Monday for sharing, caring and prayer. After they began praying, Jesse began to experience deep intense pain in his hip and ankle joints. He became even more lethargic and would sleep several hours a day in class. Doctors feared leukemia but test after test proved inconclusive.

After the Christmas holidays, Jesse came back to school a totally different child. He was kind, polite and completed all assignments. His handwriting was now neat and his mood swings stopped. All the pain in his joints was gone. When asked to write about one good movie in his journal, he wrote about a movie he had seen over the holidays about the life of Jesus. What a contrast to the horror movies other students wrote about. Without teacher prompting, Jesse checked a children’s Bible out of the school library and began reading it.

What had come over Jesse ? Why the change? We will never know. God touched him and began to move powerfully in his life. God can change what we cannot with all our science and technology. The prayers of righteous educators are powerful and effective. God has a label for every student and it is MC (My Child).

Lashonda made a home visit to Jesse‘s house as a representative of the Christian Educators community group (CEAI), not as his teacher. With the parent’s permission, she gave him a youth Bible like the one he had checked out from the school library. She then helped his parents load their pick-up truck with all their belongings for they had been evicted and were moving again. The family had no money and was heading to a homeless shelter. As Lashonda said goodbye she had a peace within her that Jesse was going to be alright because he had a perfect Father in heaven who cared for him enough to call and label him My Child. No child is impossible with God.

PRAYER: Jesus, say the word and our students are healed. We enter our classrooms and privately pray for them. Please reward us openly. We gather to agree in prayer for them. Lord, hear our prayers.

EXERCISE: Have a problem student? In private prayer in your classroom, tell God what the problems are in the child’s life. Ask God for the opposite of these things in prayer. Meet and agree in prayer with other educators for this student during off duty hours. Be persistent and keep praying.