Friday, July 14, 2006

Fervent pre-school prayers

My heart smiles everytime I sit down to dinner with my 5 year old neice and she requests to pray. Her little voice recites a learned prayer and she is so excited that everyone is listening to her as she talks to Jesus. A couple of months ago, she lay in my arms, crying and screaming in pain...I'd hold her silky brown hair out of her face as she leaned over and threw up her dinner. She was in so much pain, and we could do nothing to help her. I leaned down and said a prayer in her ear. I told her that when she got to the emergency room and the doctors took her back into the room, to just say a prayer to Jesus and He'd be there with her. I don't know if her 5 year-old mind understood that, but she made it through the night and still had her joy once she started feeling better. Every once in a while, I'll catch her saying something about praying to Jesus and how much He loves her. I wish you could see how that touches my heart.

I learn a lot from this little girl. She has no concept of the wonders of God...she just knows that she likes to talk to Him. I wish that we were all like this in some way. I wish that I cared more about talking to Jesus and enjoying the love He has for me. This past week I've realized how much I try and control the outcome of my prayers. I give something to God, then try and take it back. I think that once I pray for something, God will answer it and then I'll move onto other things. Thats not how it works.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul says to "Pray without ceasing." In Colossians 4:2, it says to "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." What truth!! Though I may seemingly "find" an answer for what I'm praying, that doesn't mean God has answered it. I must wait, be fervent....and pray.

"Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful." Romans 12:12