Lilly’s 6-year-old body shook as tears rolled down her cheeks and a muffled cry escaped her lips. Morgan, the first grade teacher, had been explaining the word choices and the possible outcome of both good and bad choices.
Sarah, the child beside Lilly, embraced her. Morgan bent down looking into Lilly’s eyes and asked, “What’s the matter Lilly?” With a tearful voice Lilly responded, “My Dad doesn’t always make good choices and my Mom cries sometimes when he leaves the house. She’s afraid he won’t come home cause he’ll be in jail.”
Morgan thoughtfully responded, “This problem calls for prayer. Would several of you be willing to pray for Lilly and her family?” Sure enough! Emily prayed, “God, please help Lilly’s Dad do the right things so the family isn’t sad.” Sam prayed, “Keep them all safe God.”
Morgan added, “God, when Lilly and her family are afraid, help them to take each other’s hands and pray believing you are helping.” As Lilly dried her tears, Morgan said to Lilly and the children, “Right now, God’s sending His angels to work on this problem. We may not see change right away, but believe and thank God for His wise answers.”
Palpable peace filled the room. The rest of the day, Morgan watched Lilly complete her lessons and play with the children seemingly untroubled. In the days ahead, this teacher’s lesson plans now included prayer for Lilly’s Dad and family. Morgan knew God loved this family and was moving the mountains in their lives.
Because Lilly was transparent concerning her seemingly mountainous needs, she received love and support from people she trusted. The prayerful love and encouragement gave her hope and reminded her to pray when the mountains looked too big. Prayer filled love is powerful and moves mountains caused by poor choices.
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. (NLT: Mark 11: 22 – 23)