October 29, 2018 Class List

As a retired principal, the term "class list" conjures up thoughts of assigning students to a homeroom, posting those lists, and then waiting for the phone to ring.

Most often students and parents are either positive or at least neutral when they learn of the groupings.  However, on occasion my phone would ring within 10 minutes after posting the lists each August.  Either a parent didn't like a certain teacher, or a best friend was not in the same class, or last year's teacher had promised a student could be in Ms. Smith's class and they weren't.  Then it became a question of moving or soothing.  Luckily, today's entry does not refer to those class lists, because now that I am retired, I no longer have to worry about Sam's inclusion in Mr. Mackerel's class or whether Martha and Sophia are in the same homeroom.  As they would say in Poland, "Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy."

I am referring to the list of prayer requests and praises our small group makes each Sunday at church.  Each class begins with an assigned person standing at the white board writing down the various submissions from the class members.  Prayer requests run the gambit.  Employment to evangelism.  Medical to (need an "m" alliteration here).  Most Sundays the list contains 8-10 items, with a dozen or more on the rare occasion.

After the prayer requests are generated, we attempt to generate a list of praises.  All of a sudden a hush falls over the crowd.  Crickets.  Not a creature was stirring.  There may be the odd follow up to an answered prayer to a from a previous class prayer list or an anecdote about traveling safety for a family member.  But seldom is the praise list even half the length of the prayer request side.

I do not mean to trivialize our requests for prayer.  The items on the list are real, and we truly are wanting and hoping our fellow brothers and sisters will remember needs we share.  But why is the praise list so much shorter?  

Do we not feel our lives have any publicly praiseworthy happenings?  Have our lives in America become so comfortable we take our blessings for granted?  Are we embarrassed to share the powerful working of God in our lives?  Maybe we would feel like a braggart or blowhard.  


I wonder how it would affect a group collectively and class members individually if there was a spoken (or at least unspoken) expectation that for every request for prayer, a praise had to also be listed.  It might be awkward at first, but after time I think the praises might start to even outnumber the requests.  Spouses begin to publicly express their thanks for each other.  A chance encounter to witness to a neighbor is shared and becomes an encouragement for someone else to do likewise.  Maybe something as simple as getting over a cold in time for a presentation reminds the class that God has our backs. 


Here is a link to "30 Days of Gratitude: A Prayer Guide".   I challenge you to add just a couple of minutes to your daily quiet time to walk through this guide and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a praise request to share with your small group each Sunday.  Yes, we need to bring our requests to God, but we also need to be just as quick to give Him public praise and thanks.