Kids and praying are a funny thing. Jennifer and I have tried, from very young ages, to instill in them an urgency to pray. I have taught them to be confident that God hears their little voices. Yet, despite my confidence that their Heavenly Father turns His ear when they begin to pray, I have noticed some interesting habits in their prayers.
For instance, they tend to naturally lay prostrate in church when we pray. They also have a tendency to sound very penitent when praying. And one should be careful when giving them a request to pray about, for they will do so for the next 3 months.
But our youngest has taken upon herself to let Jesus know where she's praying and what she's praying about. For instance, if we're sitting down to a meal, she'll pray, 'Jesus, food, thank you for...' and then she'll list all our family members, some of her stuffed animals and Jen twice. If it's bedtime, her prayer begins, 'Jesus, bed, thank you for...' and the rest of her list.
It's almost like posting on Twitter with their new location function, letting people know where you are when you tweet. So I tried it one day. We were in Chicago and the kids were being slightly unruly (and by that I mean I wondered which pack of wolves had dropped them off at my doorstep). After sticking them in the van and closing the door, I grabbed Jen's arm and leaned in and prayed, 'Jesus, IKEA parking lot, I pray you help us to have a good day with these children you have (cough) blessed us with.'
I don't know if this sounds ridiculous to you, but it seems like we as little men and women want our Father to know where we are. But when I pray, I take comfort in knowing that my Heavenly Father already knows exactly where I am.
For instance, they tend to naturally lay prostrate in church when we pray. They also have a tendency to sound very penitent when praying. And one should be careful when giving them a request to pray about, for they will do so for the next 3 months.
But our youngest has taken upon herself to let Jesus know where she's praying and what she's praying about. For instance, if we're sitting down to a meal, she'll pray, 'Jesus, food, thank you for...' and then she'll list all our family members, some of her stuffed animals and Jen twice. If it's bedtime, her prayer begins, 'Jesus, bed, thank you for...' and the rest of her list.
It's almost like posting on Twitter with their new location function, letting people know where you are when you tweet. So I tried it one day. We were in Chicago and the kids were being slightly unruly (and by that I mean I wondered which pack of wolves had dropped them off at my doorstep). After sticking them in the van and closing the door, I grabbed Jen's arm and leaned in and prayed, 'Jesus, IKEA parking lot, I pray you help us to have a good day with these children you have (cough) blessed us with.'
I don't know if this sounds ridiculous to you, but it seems like we as little men and women want our Father to know where we are. But when I pray, I take comfort in knowing that my Heavenly Father already knows exactly where I am.
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