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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, teach me to study and practice - even when I think I don't need to! Amen.


After He was baptized, Jesus went out into the desert for 40 days. Wild animals and other temptations were there, but angels came and helped Him. After that, Jesus went to the town of Galilee, telling people there, "The kingdom of God is near. Come back to God."

When you're good at something, it's easy to get lazy about it: You can do math in your head, so why study? Your piano teacher says you're a natural at music, so why practice?

Sometimes, studying and rehearsing aren't about whether you know a bunch of math problems or piano tunes. The practice can be just as important as the test. Anyone can forget things, and studying is a good reminder.

Practicing something you know can also make work into fun, because you feel powerful when you can breeze through it!

In this week's Gospel (Mark 1:12-15), Jesus rehearsed. Before He started teaching people about God, He went into the desert for 40 days. He prayed like crazy - a good reminder that even Jesus needed to stay close to His Father - and He met wild animals, which was sort of like the wild and stubborn people He would soon be trying to teach!

Jesus also got help, which isn't a bad idea for a kid, either. Jesus' help came from God and angels; you might start to practice the piano and realize you've totally forgotten your last lesson, so you'll need to go over it again the next time you see your "angel" of a piano teacher!

All in all, it never hurts to go over something one more time. If Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, you can probably stand sitting at your desk or the piano for an hour![[In-content Ad]]

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