Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  — 1 Corinthians 3:16

So another school year is upon us.  This begins my 23^rdyear of being a teacher.  I have now worked as a teacher for exactly half of my life.  I didn’t like teaching at first.  I didn’t feel like I was good at it at all. Fortunately, after I started really taking my walk with God seriously, He changed me and I’ve enjoyed it ever since. Reading Colossians 3:23 was my big light bulb moment:  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men.Simply reading those words made me realize just how poorly I treated my job.  When I applied them, it was like entering a whole new world.  Students began to change, I began to change, and the overall experience was just better.

Years later, here I am thinking about how I’m going to work another school year.  My first thought was to just pray the same prayer that has been working, “Lord, help me work like I’m working for you.”  But, I felt like He put the brakes on that prayer. As I wondered why, I thought of the verse I’m using today.  This year (calendar year) has been amazing so far.  I’ve seen students flood the altar to be filled with the Spirit.  I’ve seen adults flood the altar to be filled with the Spirit.  However, for me, as I have preached and preached my heart out, it has left me spiritually drained.  I haven’t felt like I’ve had much left to give.  I haven’t loved His Word like I once did.  I hate feeling this way.  I never stop talking to Him, it just seems I’m always asking Him to get me back to where I was.  In true God fashion, He is letting me know that He doesn’t want me where I used to be, He wants to take me someplace new.

As I prayed, “Lord, help me work like I’m working for you,” I felt like He said, “How about working like I live in you?”  I haven’t even had time to process this, but my mind is reeling just like it did years ago when I got the revelation to work like I was working for Him.  Right off the bat, can you imagine how pleasurable work would be, any work, with an acute awareness of the presence of God right there with you?  1 Corinthians 3:16 is just screaming at me, “Don’t you know this is possible?”

Lord, I want so badly to be granted a new awareness of Your Presence. I can see all the benefits of working this way.  The ideas are passing through my mind so fast that I can’t possibly process them all. I pray that you will unfold them one by one as they become necessary.  How wonderful would it be for students to have a Holy Spirit filled teacher that didn’t just work for you, but worked with an awareness of your Presence in them?  Help me, Lord!  Help all teachers who will read this.  Fill us with your Spirit and allow us to keep a marvelous sense of Your Presence at all times.