Like a little child...

Have you ever listened to little children when they pray?  I mean REALLY listened?  I encourage you to try it some time.  I have no doubt that you will be humbled (as I was!!) with their sincerity and THOROUGHNESS in prayer.  Also, I think you will find that their selfless attitudes in prayer are something we would do well to imitate in our lives.  How often do we pray for ourselves and things we want or need?  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that!  God WANTS us to pray for those things. But, in contrast, how often do we pray for OTHERS instead?  Think about that long and hard, as I have this week...  you might not like what you see.  :/

Another thing about kids' prayers is that you can find out a ton of stuff about their lives...especially if your children are like mine and are in public school.  Often, they don't want to re-hash their days with Mommy and Daddy, but if we listen to their prayers, we can find out so much about them and the struggles they face.  Here are just a few I overheard the past few weeks in my home:

"Dear God, please help my friend ______________ not to be sad while his daddy is in jail.  Help him to be happy to be with his friends at school and to forget about what's going on at home for a few hours."  (From my 1st grader!)

"Dear God, please help my friend ___________ in my class, as her house burned down yesterday and her whole family lost everything."  (This was yesterday from my 3rd grader).

"Dear God, help me not to be disappointed that my favorite teacher was absent today and our sub wasn't very nice to me or my friends."

"Father, please Lord, help _____________ not to bully my friends anymore and help me to tell him nicely that he is hurting their feelings."

"Dear God, help me to be brave and to do what I should even though it's not what I want to do."

"Thank you that I have a sister who will snuggle with me when I am scared."

"God, I am so scared to go to school and be away from home.  Help me remember that you are always there and I can pray to you when I am scared."

"Help me, Lord, to help _______________ not feel left out, as no one is nice to her except me."

"Dear God, help my teachers to want to come to our meeting so they can learn about God and go to heaven."

"Lord, please help me teach my teacher about not using instruments in worship.  He asked me about it and I want to show Him what the Bible says, but I don't know enough.  Help me to learn about it and teach Your word."

"Dear God, thank you that Mommy told my teachers I can't go to the in-school dance, and thank you that they won't make me."  (Side note:  This whole thing just aggravates me to no end, but at least the teachers and administration allow us to not participate...)

All of these things led us to some great family discussions we wouldn't have had if I hadn't been listening to their prayers.  More importantly, though, GOD was listening, and I have no doubt that He is and was blessing my sweet children as a result of their honest and open and vulnerable communication with Him.  May we all be so vulnerable at the feet of our Almighty Creator.