A Silent Junior High Room

I’ve never heard 35 junior high students be so quiet.

Some of you might know, I volunteer at my church working with the junior high group midweek. This is fun for me. My youngest daughter is in the group and being involved keeps me “hands-on” with kids on a regular basis since the focus of my ministry is speaking, training and writing right now.

Last Wednesday night I saw something I rarely see in a junior high room- complete silence.

Chris, a 20-something volunteer in the ministry began having seizures a few months ago. There was all kinds of speculation as to the cause, but the seizures keep coming.

Last week he had one again and the doctors want him to come in for a battery of tests- the result might be brain surgery.

We announced this to the junior high students on Wednesday night. They all know Chris, he had just been tagging a bunch of them with dodgeballs the week prior. The students were really receptive. Kevin, the youth pastor asked that we just stop and pray. He asked someone to open and another to close, then opened it up to anyone who wanted to pray.

The time to follow was amazing. 6th, 7th and 8th graders, many who never have the guts to pray out loud amongst their peers, all began praying for Chris.

I wish you all could have heard these precious prayers. Far from articulate, some very repetitive, but all very authentic and sincere.

You could have heard a pin drop. I’ve never heard junior highers quiet for this long. None of them seemed restless or in a hurry. They simply brought their requests before God in a very real way.

It was an amazing experience.

If you think of it, please pray for Chris today. He’s at a hospital in Oakland going through tests all day.