Prayer - it is important!

Okay, it is time to be blunt about what the Lord says about prayer-


There is never an outpouring of God's Spirit to us without a preeminent outpouring of our spirit to Him in prayer. Test this - through Scripture (ie. Pentecost) and through the centuries of great missions and revivals (Elliot, Hudson Taylor).

We have been meeting to pray for our school for over a year now.  I want to extend the invitation to everyone who prays for WCS.  Typically, we meet in the prayer room of the elementary campus.  But over the last several weeks our numbers have been dwindling. So, we need to revive our prayer for WCS. Let's try Mondays, when His mercies seem renewed by our corporate worship of Sundays. I like meeting in the elementary campus prayer room; I think it gives us insight when we pray on site. So, let's meet there every Monday except the first one of each month, on that morning we will meet at the unfinished gym of the new campus to Pray for His provision and completion.

8:15 untiil we are finished, but we will get right down to business - Less chit chat and more petitioning. We can always visit afterward so that those who need to can head out.

Please pray throughout this week for His guidance and on who He might have you invite. Let us finish this school year STRONG and in His power seek victory for His kingdom through carrying out the mission He set forth through the leaders of our school. Do you know our school's mission? That will be our first prayer. See you next Monday, March 7, at the NEW CAMPUS!

God tells us to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people" (Ephesians 6:18). Paul mentions this right after he tells us to put on God's armor and I believe prayer is crucial for victory. We can do this!

If you have any other suggestions, please share them so we can cover our school in prayer.

I love our school and know God will be faithful to complete it! He may just be waiting for us to want it enough to ask!
 
Now, I understand that not all of us can make it, but I wanted you to know so you can join us in spirit.

Confirming our call

Peter wrote in 2Peter 1:3-8, "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these quailities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of ourLord Jesus Christ."  That makes things a lot easier for us.  So, my prayer for all of us who love WCS is that we will focus on being who He wants US to be so that all else falls into place, His perfect place for us.  I truly believe as we stay the course, He will bless our school and finish the work He started.  And, in the end we will only be able to give Him the glory for it all. 

Prayer for 2011

Okay, prayer warriors, it is time to get serious about our school. Remember, Jesus told us that we have not because we ask not. Have you asked Him to bless our school yet this year? Have you asked him to bring us students, great teachers, generous benefactors? Have you prayed for the wonderful teachers we already have or for the men and women who lead our school? It's time for us all to get down on our knees for our school. I believe God has a plan for us all to be united at our Ranger Highway campus and for us to have an exceptional facility that we can share with our community. Sometimes with extravagant requests come extreme measures. Jesus told his disciples that it takes preside AND fasting on some occasions.

If you are will to join in a focussed time before our Lord, please comment on this blog post.

The Gift of the Magi

The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones..... O Henry

This Christmas, you have an opportunity to make a wise and loving gift. Consider your gift giving process this season. Christmas gifts, no matter their extravagance, can do little to satisfy temporal needs or wants unless they are a reflection of the love of the giver. This fact was well illustrated in the story by O Henry where the two lovers sacrificed their prized possessions for their gift to the other. You remember, she sold her hair to buy a watch chain and he sold his watch to buy her hair combs. Wise gifts? Yes, and full of love-- this is the meaning of "The Gift of the Magi". Sacrificial gifts from the heart are much more excellent than hurried gifts bought to fulfill a list and much more needed in this world of over indulgence.

Whether you want to buy something extravagant or supply essentials, your gifts will be a wise blessing to the giver as well as the families who receive them. As you are out shopping, be intentional, including your children in the decision making process. We are all in need of encouragement, love, and hope. So, as you shop for them consider, like the Magi of the Christmas story, three gifts; one to fill a need, one to fulfill a want, and one to encourage beyond the Christmas season.

May you have a blessed and Christ centered holiday season.

Let us give Thanks!

Psalm 118:1. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever!

As we prepare for our fall break from school and my favorite holiday -- Thanksgiving, may we also prepare our hearts to be thankful for all our blessings. I find as I get older, that I am most thankful for the hardships because that is where the most growth occurs. So it is with our precious school. As we see the separated campuses and unfinished gym project as a challenge, the Lord is using these circumstances to strengthen our resolve to love our school family. This was so evident this week at the Festival of Praise. We will look back to these years as fond memories and I am confident we will someday hold our Festival of Praise in our finished gym.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall is in the air!

No frost on the pumpkin, but you can definitely feel the wonderful Texas autumn as you drop those precious blessings off at school today. And what a blessing it is! God rescues us each year from the exhaustive summer heat just as He rescues us and gives us repose in His arms from the exhaustive schedules we "organize" for ourselves. Please stop and take a look around -- the trees are busy changing their leaves to the rich colors of fall and the sky is busy with the birds escaping the cool weather that is on the way. Yet, there is a peacefulness in it all. So too, can you find a peace in your "busyness" by glancing upward to our Father. Have a wonderful day!

Leadership

Leadership is the one word that sums up most of the issues we are facing in this world today. So, as we knelt before our Lord last Thursday, leadership was the prayer on our hearts.  We prayed for the leaders of our school.  As we prayed, we realized that the head master of WCS should always be a priority when we pray.  He is the one who stands in the gap for us all.  However, from there, we prayed for the deans, the members of the school board, teachers, and staff; their importance can not be discounted.  Funny how prayer works, still on our lips came prayers for the parents, supporters, and ultimately the students at our precious school.  We desire for us all to be likeminded with Christ.

As you drive by our campuses this week, please lift all our leaders, from Mr. Gravitt to the precious pre-k students, up in prayer.  Have a great week.

Danielle