Mama, Teach Me to Pray!

Prayer.....talking to the King of all Kings, right from your bedroom, or your table, or your car, or wherever you are. I think that we often miss the simplicity of this act, or we simply get too busy with our lives to talk to the Creator of the Universe. Wow. He created me and cares so much for me that He died for me and I won't even spend my time talking with Him? I have often wondered why this is the case? Paul says to "pray without ceasing" but how do we really do that? I have found that it is easy for me to keep up a constant dialogue throughout the day with the Lord.....involving Him in my life (as if He really needs an invitation).



One thing that I have written about before, is teaching our children to pray. We have to literally spend time teaching them HOW to do this, along with giving them a good role model on prayer and spending time building our relationships with the Lord. Without that model, it will not become real to children.

I am finally at a time in my life with my kids where I am getting a full night's sleep. I no longer have diapers or wet sheets to change in the middle of the night, or cries for milk every few hours. There will be the occasional bad dream where I get some night-time snuggles, but for the most part I sleep a good 8-10 hours every night. I could not have said this a few years ago, but now it is actually FUN for me to wake up early and spend some time with the Lord. The only issue with this, is that without a doubt, the minute my feet hit the floor, my two boys immediately hear me....they have super-sonic hearing, apparently. So most mornings, I am able to make it out to the kitchen, turn on the coffee pot and then I am joined by two bleary-eyed little boys, with blankets wrapped around themselves.

I like to go out onto my back patio with my coffee, journal, Bible and sometimes a Bible study book and spend time with the Lord. Sometimes that is not a quiet moment, however. Those times will come (and truthfully, I am not looking forward to a quiet house. I am sure I will miss a bit of the chaos!). But, as much as I can, I like to read the Bible and spend time with my Creator in order to build our relationship, and to give me a grounding of my soul before the day begins. There are little Bibles out there with me....little ears always listening and little eyes always observing. I will catch glimpses of this in their play throughout the day. One little boy will open a Bible and say "I am spending time with Jesus now." Or, he will get a coffee mug and "drink" the coffee (sometimes he steals mine!) and say "I am going outside now."

Today was so special, though. I was sitting drinking my coffee and my 3 year old came to me and said "Mommy, teach me to pray. I don't know how to do it." Of course I put down my own Bible and coffee and seized that moment to be sure. With his little hands folded and his little head bowed he thanked Jesus for his family and all the things that he loves....and scampered off to make mischief, most likely!



What a lesson, however. God is our heavenly Father and He promises to be there when we need Him. All we need to say is "Daddy, teach me to pray." He will. He will lead us in our lives and guide our paths. We just need to let Him in. Allow Him to be a part of our everyday lives. He will. He yearns for us, His children.