Each time they talk to God, unless it's about Paw Patrol, my heart nearly explodes with pride, tempered by mild conviction that my own prayer life isn't as strong as a 2 or 4 year-old's. They're keeping me humble and teaching me to pray with the faith of a child.
At Grandma's house a couple weeks ago, we asked Isaiah if he wanted to say grace before dinner. He agreed, we bowed our heads, and his prayer was pretty much over before we'd shut our eyes: "Dear God, thank you for you. Amen"
I jumped in before anyone started to eat, "Uh, don't you want to thank Him for the food, or anyone else, or... Never mind, that's profound. Wow. That's deep, Buddy!" Why do I pray so many words? "Thank you God for you," about sums it all up.
At bedtime, I usually take Paul, and Jon puts Isaiah down. One evening, I held Paul's hand and thanked God for him, praying that he might grow in stature and in favor with God and man, then I let go. He quickly re-grabbed my hand, closed his eyes and said, "'Zaiah!" So, as my heart melted, I prayed for his brother. Then, he said, "Angie!", so I prayed for his sister. Finally, he exclaimed "Dada!" So, I prayed for Daddy. Now, each night, he makes sure I pray for all of them.
Today, we were reading the story of Zacchaeus. When we got to the part about Zacchaeus not having any friends because he stole everyone's money when he was collecting taxes, Isaiah interrupted me and said we should pray for him to be nice. So we did. And you know what God answered that prayer, Zacchaeus turned nice just a few sentences later!
At a stoplight this afternoon on the way to Angie's tennis match, I said to the boys, "Sorry, this light is taking forever!" Isaiah responded, "Dear God, please help the light turn green." And just like that, it did! He asked who makes the lights turn colors and we talked about the computer system, so he knows God isn't a genie who grants your every wish, but I sure do love that he can connect his requests with answers and believe in the power of prayer at such a young age.
Last night, Isaiah had a terrible nightmare. He woke up this morning still talking about it. At one point he said, "Mommy, tonight we should pray that we don't have any bad dreams come into our beds." I agreed that was an excellent idea and asked him to help me or Daddy remember. A few minutes later, he continued, "Actually, we don't have to wait till tonight, we can ask God right now!" Buddy, you are so wise. So, we did. Why wait to talk to God later when you can talk to Him right now.
 |
| I do not take these moments for granted... |
Stay tuned for more lessons on seamlessly communicating with God from my budding prayer warriors. They're teaching me so much.
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
