The prayers of children are really amazing to me. I just saw something on a friend’s facebook page that had the following prayer from a 2 year old on it:
“Dear Jesus, thank you. That’s all. Amen.”
You know, us adults might find that silly or we might feel we are too mature for such a simplistic prayer. We seem to think that our prayers should be Nobel contenders or should make people envious of our great prayer skills, but you know what?
Then a few nights ago, when I was putting one of my daughters to bed, who had been in some trouble that day for not obeying prayed the following:
“Dear Jesus, I thank you for mommy and daddy and that they love me even when I disobey them. Please help them to forgive me and give them new experiences tomorrow.”
There is a reason Jesus said not to suffer the little children to come to Him. There is a reason Jesus said that we must be like a child to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
I wonder if sometimes when we pray our big fancy prayers with big fancy words, if they get filed into the “Heard that before” category. You know…the same category us parents put many of the daily ramblings of our children into. The category that’s not quite ignored, but not really acted upon in a fast way because it’s the same thing day in and day out.
But the prayers of our little ones, that are spoken in utmost sincerity and open honesty are the ones that get heard and touch our Father’s heart the most.
Maybe we need to learn to pray. First, perhaps, we should learn how NOT to pray. The big fancy words might impress our friends and other church members, but they don’t impress God at all. I always find it amusing when people pray in Old English as if that is the language God speaks just because their KJV Bibles are written in that way.
I think that it’s the “Dear Jesus, thank You, that’s all” prayers from 2 year olds that will always bring pleasure to Him.
What a challenge… I needed that. Thank you.