A Lesson Taught by a Child

With three kids in the house my husband and I are quickly learning the art of divide and conquer. We split up everyday tasks to get more accomplished during our day. Usually when bedtime rolls around my hands are full with nursing and rocking the baby, so my husband takes care of the older two boys. Their bedtime routine is normally a time for devotion, a couple of books, and a bedtime prayer.

The prayer is usually led by my husband and occasionally he has them repeat after him. We're trying to teach them the importance of prayer and we hope that it eventually sticks and they learn to pray on their own.

Recently, I was able to join them for their prayer time and my oldest said he wanted to start the prayer. I was surprised at how well he did leading us during that time. My heart was overwhelmed when he slowly thought about each word he was praying. He wasn't quoting a prayer he memorized, he was praying every word from his heart. He thanked God for the day he had and for the blessings He gave us. He remembered his daddy's back has been hurting so he prayed for God to heal his back. He prayed for God to keep us safe through the night and then paused and added a request for God to keep everyone in the world safe. He continued to pray and at the end he asked God to put angels around our home. I listened as his younger brother then wanted to pray on his own just like he heard by example.

I walked out of their room with a spirit of gratitude that my children were learning how to pray. The following night I was feeding the baby and again I heard his little voice coming from his room praying on his own. I was filled with conviction by his method of prayer. How many times do I skim through prayers simply listing my requests? How many times do I sit down to pray and start praying out of memorization? When is the last time I sat and thought about each and every word I was praying?

We teach our children to be respectful during prayer. We teach them that we are speaking to God and that means we should focus and pay attention. But so many times I have found my own mind wandering as I speak words that I'm saying only because they are familiar and comfortable.

My God deserves a little more focus from me. Prayer cannot become a task I check off a list. My words need to be intentional. My thoughts need to stay focused.  My prayers cannot be words spoken in vain. I need to display my reverence for God by giving Him my best--my best thoughts, words, intentions.

Every night before bed we are teaching our kids to pray by repeating after us, listening to us, and talking to them about the importance of prayer. But this week the roles were reversed. My child prayed a simple prayer, but it was a deep and thoughtful prayer. And through his prayer he taught his mom a lesson. This momma was reminded about the beauty and the importance of prayer, a lesson I needed and was taught by such a small child.

Truly, I say to you unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:3 ESV