Time Out: Weekly quiet times for the youth worker’s soul.
by Adam Wormann

Every night before I put my kids to bed (6, 4 and 2 years old), we read from the Bible and pray together. Every now and then, they interrupt prayer with different things to pray for that come into their heads spontaneously. I think that’s great, and just stop and let them go for it. This week, my four year old decided that he had something to pray for (and being as he’s usually a little more timid in prayer, I thought this was great). He prayed:

“God, we pray for Stevie Wonder, that you would help his eyes and that he would be able to see again.”

Seriously.

I kind of laughed, thought it was sweet, and we continued. I thanked and encouraged him, especially his soft heart for others. Later though, I started thinking about it, beyond “that’s hilarious.” He was first of all, sincerely praying for someone else and showing compassion. That’s great! Beyond that, he seriously believed that God could do this. Seriously? There’s some things God’s just not going to do.

Matthew 17 shows Jesus talking about praying boldly. I don’t know what God is going to do about Stevie Wonder’s vision, but I do know that my son taught me something about prayer. My prayer is often inhibited by doubt. I don’t pray boldly because I “know God isn’t going to do that.” If I ever do get the words out, I don’t know if I’m really taking them that seriously.

Prayer is a tough thing to understand. I’m still trying to figure it out and be more faithful regarding it. I don’t know how much prayer changes God and how much it changes us. I struggle with the difference between strong faith and arrogant confidence. What I do know is that God calls us to pray, know that he listens to, loves, and cares for us, and that we need to boldly believe and trust. I’m now taking lessons from a four year old, and I think it’s helping to put me on the right track.

QUESTIONS:

• What’s on your prayer list right now?
• Are you praying for anything boldly? Anything that’s only explicable by God’s intervention?
• What do you know needs prayer, but your avoiding it because it’s too big? Take some time and pray for it.

Posted on May 28, 2012