“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” – Romans 8: 26-27
I know that if we know the Lord Jesus Christ, we know about prayer. However, sometimes we are so limited in our capacity to understand the power and purpose of prayer, that we think of it as the last resort. Oswald Chambers once said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” Our Lord taught us to pray, along with His apostles, in Matthew and Luke. He exhorts us to honor the name of God, to welcome His kingdom, seek His will, provide our needs, forgive our sins, and enable us to forgive those who sin against us. We are to plead for Him to keep us from temptation and to deliver us from the evil one.
Nothing can be accomplished by man without the Holy Spirit enabling the work. We must seek Him in our hearts, minds, and souls if we are to know Him and the gospel – the good news! We need to remember all the blessings He has given us through prayer and look back from where we have come to see the answers to prayer. He does always answer. We even need to pray to understand sometimes how those answers that we do not want to enrich our souls. In the delightful book of Romans 8:26 & 27, it tells us that, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” The power of prayer comes from the Spirit of God and we cannot begin to comprehend what the purpose of these things are. God knows the end from the beginning and He can be trusted in all things. His provision is perfect.
The place to go to hear from our Lord, is His Holy Word. The answers for all our needs can be found there. The foundation of our search for truth is first to pray that the Spirit will show us what He wants us to know daily. We need to be thankful in everything – yes, everything. Again, that is an impossible concept without being in continual prayer. We pray for healing, but it does not always come. We trust Him with that as well. We pray for our country, our culture, our children – and we trust Him with the results. He longs for us to be in conversation with Him. Listen as you read His word, thank Him for all things and rejoice that we seek and serve a God who sees us and knows us, who forgives us and cares for us. Praise Him in all things!
How does one express the importance of prayer in our individual lives and in the life of such a place as Gloria Deo Academy? Let us start with the meaning of the name of our school – Glory be to God on high! The vision of Gloria Deo Academy was born in prayer, it was founded in prayer, built in prayer, and has continued in prayer. Now, as we grow and expand, we must constantly pray for wisdom, guidance, clarity, unity, and charity.
God has been so faithful to answer the many needs of our school; most of us have no idea the depth of the need. We trust that the God who created the universe; who is to be worshiped and praised, will continue to provide in miraculous ways. We thank Him for His grace and mercy.
Because our foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the only One we can turn to as we navigate in the world, but we are not of the world. We seek His perfect will for each step we take; for our Board of Directors, for Joy Davis, Head of School, the administration, teachers, cooks, janitors, and students. All have a particularly significant role in the life of Gloria Deo Academy. We ask God’s blessing on the parents and grandparents who nurture and educate our children.
As we are expanding and renovating the building to accommodate the needs of our Christian community, our hearts should be seeking Him first and expecting that He will add all these things we are asking of Him, if they are in His will.
Already, we have wonderful testimonies of the perfect timing and provision for some of the things that are necessary to move forward. We will look forward to watching Him continue to give GDA everything in His time that we need.
There has been a small group of parents, grandparents and staff who have been meeting periodically to pray and we will be asking for your participation this school year, whether meeting with us in person or being informed of the present needs and seeking the Lord on their behalf in your own time. Every time we get together, we are so encouraged and excited to see the next steps laid out. We trust Him for everything. Please join us on our knees to beseech the good, good Father.
— Anne Burton, GDA Grandparent
