Prayer is a part of my everyday life. I pray while I'm vaccuming or showering. Basically anytime I feel like I won't be disturbed is when I do it. But praying today got me thinking: If I'm always finding ways to pray silently on my own, how will my children ever learn to make prayer a part of their everyday life? My mom was pretty amazing at teaching me how to pray. I can remember large portions of my childhood not being able to find my shoes or my coat or one of my favorite toys instead of saying something like "well... just find it!" she would say "well why don't you ask Jesus to help us find it?" What a novel idea. It seems strange to say that doesn't it? As if the God of the universe would care where your shoes were.
But as I would watch my mother pray while looking for her keys, it allowed me to learn in very practical ways that God does indeed answer prayer and that you can tell him ANYTHING. There is no insignificant prayer to the Lord. I can remember vividly the night I plead to God when I was 8. I was alone in my room, crying my eyeballs out, thinking about how my dad might die. You see, he struggled with a disease his whole life and went through many times when he almost didn't make it. That night, things looked very grim for him and I felt helpless. I cried out to God in my bed that night and said "God, please heal my daddy. Please! Can you just let him live long enough to walk me down the aisle God? In Jesus name I pray Amen." That was the night that made me a believer in the power of prayer. I believe God heard my tender, broken, eight-year-old heart and answered my prayer. That was a BIG prayer, and the day my daddy walked me down the aisle I remembered what God had promised me and I thanked him for it.
Fast forward to my own parenthood experience and I have to admit, there is a shameful lack of continuous prayer in my home. Sure they have a track that they say during meals and at bedtime. One they've memorized so thoroughly that it's almost difficult to pull them away from it and actually think about what they are saying to Jesus. When I think about it, Jesus himself spent much of his time on earth teaching others how to pray. When they didn't know the words to say, He gave them a track to guide them. When he was afraid, he asked them to sit beside him while he prayed. He prayed for the sick and the dead and the drink and the bread. He prayed in so many circumstances it was impossible not to think of prayer being a routine part of his day. Matthew 19:13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Jesus had a special place in his heart for children and even in that instance he taught the little ones how to pray and that what they said and how they felt was just as important to God. So today when their daddy asked me to pray for him, I used it as an opportunity to teach my kids. We all sat down and I explained what daddy needed prayer for. They elected a representative (Elijah) to pray. He started on the usual prayer pattern he was taught but then was forced to go a different route due to the specifics and when he was done, they all said "Amen!" And that was it. Maybe a minute long thing that had them stop and pray and look towards Jesus.
I'm not always going to be great at this, but I really want to strive to teach my children that prayer doesn't just belong at the dinner table, or in their beds at night. They can talk to Jesus anytime and there is nothing too small or insignificant for Him. I believe Jesus especially listens to the hearts and prayers of little children. I believe He uses those moments to show even the littlest of hearts that He is faithful in all things.
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