Sweet Little Prayers

This evening, at dinner, Evan said the blessing over our food. He usually says the same thing over and over again but not tonight. This time he was very specific. He said, "Dear God, thank You for the nice day we're having. Thank You for this good food to be so good. And thank You that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Amen." I love that He knows that Jesus died for him!!  His prayers have really matured over the past few months!

I absolutely love listening to my boys pray. I know our Heavenly Father must love hearing those little voices talk to Him as well. One thing that Evan always says when he prays is "thank you." He even says "thank you for Mommy to feel better" instead of "please help Mommy to feel better." I've thought a lot about that and I'm inclined to believe that as adults, we should be bold enough to pray in such a way. We should have so much faith that when we pray we are already saying "Thank You!" 

I often talk to the kids about praying and think about teaching them to pray but I wonder if God is trying to teach me a thing or two about praying through my children. Matthew 18:2-4 says: He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said:“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." So maybe I need to pray like Evan. My prayer time doesn't have to be long and it doesn't have to be full of great vocabulary words. I just need to be mindful of all that God has done, thankful for Jesus and His sacrifice, and grateful for His willingness to listen to my prayers. And I need to bold enough to believe that He will answer my prayers! 

Today I am thankful for the sweet little prayers of my children. I am so happy that they are learning to pray and that they do it often. Their innocent but daring prayers sound like they went and sat on their Daddy's lap and started talking to him. Isn't that's exactly what we're doing when we pray? I am grateful for the reminder that I can approach the throne of my Heavenly Father, pray my honest prayers, and say thank You because I know that He is listening and is at work in my life. I know my kids learn a lot from me but sometimes I think they teach me more than I teach them!