Out-of-the-Box Prayers
By Pamela Blattner
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
Matthew 6:7
By Pamela Blattner
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”
Matthew 6:7
My little granddaughter is a total drama queen, but very sensitive and innocent, too. When she prays, she is genuine and worth listening to. She tenderly cares for her cousin, fish, friends and dog. The other evening, we asked if she would pray at dinner for our family and blessing over our food. The simplicity of her prayer as she scrunched her nose and tightly shut her eyes, brought conviction to my heart.
Several years back, I was mentoring an adolescent boy in a local school setting. He was very sensitive to poverty, crime and abuse. I asked him to pray for the children in his neighborhood. The young man said, “God, make my mothers, aunties, and brothers stop fighting. Tell them it hurts their kids.” The prayer that was uttered out of brokenness pierced my heart. I found out later that he had also called out to God for things that personally affected him…fatherlessness, loneliness, and fear…prayers from deep in his heart. Some of us would think the prayers we heard were a little “raw,” but they were “real.”
Just recently, a group of kids were “real” in their prayers about our current events: “Jesus, I pray that you will be a comforter to all the people in Haiti that have lost everything in the earthquake.” “Lord I pray that through any disaster that may happen you would receive glory. I pray Psalm 91 protection for all the relief workers and missionaries in Haiti.”
One of my friends just told me that her son came home upset from school one day because a teacher wouldn’t pray for his request. He said, “I wanted to pray about the dogs in the shelter, but he said we should pray for personal things. Why couldn’t we pray about the dogs, Mom?”
Many times, the prayers of children seem out-of-the-box to us. They are motivated to pray about the things that touch their hearts…friends, family, teachers, even pets. We often smile at the innocence of their prayers; some of which aren’t even spiritual. But, they pray naturally…the way prayer should be.
They might be out-of-the-box prayers, but they go straight to the heart of God.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Take a moment and pray out-of-the-box to Jesus today. Be real with Him about what is on your mind.
FURTHER READING:
Psalm 66:20
Pam and her husband Richard have two adult children and two grandchildren. She serves Oakwood through its Family Care Ministries.
