My six year old son is tenderhearted. He is sensitive about lots of things. I was telling someone that something in the past had been hard on me. He hugged me so tight I thought I would choke and with a tearful little voice said, "I'm so sorry mom." Very sweet, very empathetic, very tenderhearted.
When he prays at bed time he often prays these words, "Jesus, will you be with everyone in the whole world tonight?" For many of us we would say, "Oh kids, they don't understand what they are saying." We might even encourage him to be more specific, "Drew, you should pray for your Grammy and Papa."
I mean, what does a blanket prayer like that mean anyway? Yes, it is sweet. Yes, it would make the old ladies ooh and ah. But it isn't specific enough really. There are real needs that should be prayed about. Real people, with names, with problems that we could pray for. What about Aunt Sue who is having surgery? What about our friend Jack who is going on a trip? What about your little brother who is in his terrible two's and needs God to zap him into the terrific three's? Let's pray for those things. Real things. Things we know about. This, "be with everyone in the whole world tonight" isn't good enough.
Or is it the best prayer possible? "Jesus, will you be with everyone in the whole world tonight?" I don't know her name but I know someone is touching her in the wrong way, protect her. I don't know the town but I know that there is war there, save them. I don't know what the strain of bacteria is but I know it is making children sick and die, heal them. Jesus, will you be with everyone in the whole world tonight? I can't, but you can.
Sitting on the stool beside Drew's bed I hear that prayer and I am convicted. Maybe he is not just tenderhearted but a bit of a prophet. After all the Bible says that from the mouths of babes truth will flow...
And the truth of that prayer flows over me like a raging river. Conviction that I don't help to answer that prayer threatens to drown me. Conviction that I don't use my hands to protect scalds my spirit like boiling water. Conviction that it isn't my feet bringing good news, it isn't my voice speaking up for the silenced, it isn't me offering a cool drink, it isn't me...it is a wave so big, so big, I might die. Do I show my child the way that God can answer his prayer? Or do I "ooh and ah" over the tender heart of a six year old, believing he will grow out of that and face reality by the time he is 14?
In Psalm 46 it says, "Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire."
My sons prayer is really a prayer that God will be who God is, and that God will do what God does. The answer to the prayer is in my life and yours. How are we working with God to make peace? How are we living lives that answer that tenderhearted prayer?
May I be one who joins God in His conquest for peace. May I be one who prays and lives with the little revolutionary, "Jesus, will you be with everyone in the whole world tonight." And let me be one who helps to answer this prayer.
1 comment:
When I read this blog I couldnt help but think wow a little boy like Drew is fully aware of others around him and he actually cares. There are adults in this world who could careless about others who dont ever think twice to acknowledge them let alone pray for them. I took a mintue to think how I could be more like Drew and not only care for my loved ones but to also remember that there are other people in this world who are alone, scared, hurting and just may be need someone to pray for them. I think that god is working in the heart of a little boy and that more people should just take a minute out there busy schedules to remember that there are people who need help, a simple prayer may seem pointless but doesnt hurt to try.
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