"You are the light of the world." In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus urged His followers to shine brightly so others would see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven.
They were living in days of confusion, poverty, unrighteousness, perversion, and suffered various diseases, torments, and demon possession. Jesus warned them they would be reviled and persecuted for following Him, the Son of the Living God.
Is today different from 2000 years ago? Is evil different now? People still seek the Light in surrounding darkness, whether it's a toxic workplace or a challenging school environment.
Recently, I assisted with our prayer teams at two schools and experienced two similar incidents two days apart. The first incident occurred with two young women walking past us. When asked if we could pray for them, they replied, "We're good. We pray every day. We go to our grandma's church in L.A. with our family every Sunday. We've worked at revivals and sing in the choir. We've gone on mission trips. We love God." Their enthusiasm quickly turned to a look of dread when they said, "Now that school," pointing towards their school, "needs a lot of prayer! It's a dark place."
At another school, we asked a young man if he needed prayer. He looked at us for a few seconds and responded, "Sure. Pray my day would get better." We further questioned him, and he revealed his plans to become a meteorologist after graduating in a few weeks. We asked if he knew Jesus and said, "Of course!" Our ten minute chat ended with him encouraging us to pray for his school.
Christian students are on the front lines facing daily challenges at their schools. Our prayer teams support by reminding them they are not alone. The Helper, the Holy Spirit is guiding them to continue the fight against the dark forces which have infiltrated their environment. Through our prayers, we give them a spark of encouragement to reignite the fire to be the Light for their classmates.
"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:11-12
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