Mondays in my classroom are unique. First of all, it’s wall-to-wall Monday. What that means in my teaching world is I have only a few breaks until the end of the day. I’m with students most of the time. Not all bad, but….

It’s also Prayer Request Monday. What I do first thing in the morning is gather from my students prayer items – concerns, things of thanks, things like that. Then we pray. This has been the routine for the year. It flows rather nicely – review the requests then pray and then begin the day… over and over again… until this Monday.

I don’t think anyone noticed, but there was just a small pause before I began praying, a slight hesitation. The first words stuck in my throat. They couldn’t quite make it out. It was like a pause for a punctuation mark at the end of the sentence, except this was at the beginning. I bit my lip and continued, holding back the emotions. I knew before I started that there might be trouble with this prayer this morning.

You see, at our faculty devotions for the week we were given an update on a colleague’s husband who is dying of cancer. Maybe just a few days left. Tough stuff. She and her husband have been on our prayer list all year. So here I am in my class taking prayer requests from students – my babysitter is having a baby soon, my dog might need to be put to sleep, the softball game went well, getting a new dog in July… Piddly stuff really compared to the horror of cancer and watching a loved one slowly, painfully pass from life into glory.

But here’s the catch… in my throat that is. Strangely, to God Almighty, creator of the universe, it’s all important – sick dogs, pregnant babysitters, dying husbands – all of it, nothing piddly about it! That’s what I realized as I began my prayer that morning. God has it covered, big or little… before we even ask… or know how or what to ask.

That was Monday… Wall-to-Wall and Prayer Request Monday. What the Spirit helped me realize once again is that for God it’s Wall-to-Wall Everyday – no breaks from his children. Doing what’s best for us. All good… Thank you, God.

*   *   *

Philippians 4:6,7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.