Hearing a heartfelt prayer from a child is one of the sweetest things there is. I love to listen to Chloe when she talks to God. To preface this story, Chloe has been having a hard time lately at preschool because one little girl isn't very nice to her. She tells Chloe that she doesn't want to be her friend and this obviously would make Chloe very sad. So, we have been praying about this. Well, today as I was getting ready Chloe was in the hallway singing and talking and this turned into a prayer to God. Now, I don't remember the exact words, but here is some of it.
"Dear God, thank you so much for mommy and daddy and Hunter and that they love me so much. Thank you so much for all of my friends, (insert names here). Thank you so much that they love me so much and please help me to be nice to them. Please help (mean friend's name)to be nice to me. Please help me be nice to her even if she doesn't love me because I love her. And, please don't let her be mean to me anymore. And don't disappoint me again! A-Man."
I couldn't help but laugh and feel delighted, and a little speechless as the end of the prayer came. I felt so happy that this was bothering her and she knew to go to the Lord about it. How very wise for a three, almost four, year old. She was so sincere in her prayer and really meant what she said. While I don't tell God not to disappoint me again, I know there are times I have felt disappointed when things didn't go the way I had prayed. I think deep down I probably did want to say that prayer. I wanted to say to her that God doesn't disappoint us, but the truth is in our human nature we at times feel disappointed. We cannot see the big picture and the great things he has in store for us. He uses every situation for the good to help us develop character and grow closer to him. So, the truth is, that God wants to hear what is on our hearts.
As a parent, you hope everyday that you are teaching your kids the things they need to deal successfully with the world around them. As a Christian I thank the Lord that she is learning how important prayer is and hopefully as she gets older it will stay with her.
