First things first. The votes for the courtyard are in. With over 650 votes, the name of the courtyard is …The Courtyard! I had to laugh a little. Anyway, we have been using that space so much the last few weeks and it has been such a blessing. Thanks for your votes and all the input!
I was having a conversation in class the other day about some of the things that my students are wrestling with right now. They were asking my opinion on a variety of things like college, future life decisions, and how do you know who you should date. As I was trying to give my best advice one of my students said, “Why don’t we pray about it?”
There was silence for a second. Partly because I was like…duh, I am so dumb. Of course! Why aren’t we always praying for this stuff? Why I am talking so much when we should be listening to the Word of God and the Spirit? So this brought us into a long conversation about prayer and it got me thinking about praying for these kids in a more consistent and focused way. Wouldn’t it be cool if Illiana literally became a house of prayer? There are so many things these kids are struggling with and I want us to cover them in prayer. I feel like sometimes we get so busy with life that prayer can take a back seat. No more.
So here is my thought…hang with me here.
Saturday, November 9 @ 10:00am. Come to the Illiana Commons for donuts and coffee. When everyone is here, I will provide a list of students/staff for you to pray over. We’ll split up the list by homeroom so each prayer warrior will have around 18-23 people to pray for. In doing this, we’ll make sure that EVERY student and staff member are being covered with prayer this year. Our plan is to open Illiana to our prayer warriors one Saturday a month so that we can literally become a house of prayer. This will also allow you to pray over these students/staff members right where they sit in their classrooms. Even if you can’t commit to every month, but you’d like to come and pray, we would love to have you.
We would also love to pray for you, our community. While we covet prayers for our students, we also want to pray over you. If you have a specific need, concern or praise, please bring it forward so our students can extend this “house of prayer” to our community.
Let me know if you have any questions. If not, I would love to see you Saturday, November 9. All ages welcome! The hearts and minds of these kids are so precious and we want to make sure they are being lifted up in prayer on a more consistent basis.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support.
