Faith Like A Child
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom
of God like a child shall not enter it.
Luke 18:17
My daughter, Mackenzie, is a three-year-old who is full of life, energy and excitement. It is amazing to watch her learn new things and oftentimes quite humorous to see how she processes them. Before every meal and at bedtime each night we end each of our prayers with “Amen, To God Be All the Glory”. This has become a standard to her on how one is supposed to end a prayer. It is has been humorous to see her correct her Sunday School teachers saying, that they forgot to say, “To God Be All the Glory”. Meanwhile they try to figure out what this three-year-old is saying, since it is not always completely understandable.
Mackenzie attends the preschool held at the Methodist Church in the town where we live. A few weeks ago, she came home concerned, worried, and upset. When my wife and I asked her what was wrong, she said, “Pastor David does not know how to end a prayer”. I assumed she meant that he had simply forgotten to say, “To God Be All the Glory”, however she continued, he ended his prayers saying, “(Ahh-men)" instead of "(Ae-men)." She was worried how someone who was a pastor could miss this simple task. So Mackenzie, with the mind of a child begin to pray for Pastor David every night, that God would teach him how to correctly end a prayer.
Yesterday, when I picked Mackenzie up from pre-school, it was all Mackenzie could do to contain her excitement as she told me, that “God had taught Pastor David to end his prayers correctly with "(Ae-men)." Being an adult and not particularly in the believing mode, I tried to interpret what she was saying by asking, “So did you bug him to say that?”, or “Was he trying to make you happy?”. Mackenzie continued, that, no God had been the one who had taught Pastor David this; He had answered her prayer. It then hit me, this was Faith Like a Child. Even though I don’t know what caused Pastor David to end his prayers like this, in my daughters mind, this was God doing exactly what we had been teaching her - answering her prayers.
I wonder how many of us would have callused hearts in this situation, to think well God didn’t truly answer this prayer, trying to rationalize what had happened, instead of simply exclaiming that God had answered a prayer. In this moment, my daughter became the teacher and I became the student; she reminded me of a child-like faith that doesn’t reason, or try to explain, but that trusts in God.
Be encouraged today that the Lord does indeed hear your prayers, and He is at work in answering them.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24
