The Prayer of a Child

Whenever I pray with Hannah, I always say an extra little prayer that God will become real to her.  I don't remember ever coming to the realization that there was a God, I just always believed it and He was always a part of me and I want so much for it to be that way for my children as well.  One way I pray that He'll become real to Hannah is by answering her prayers quickly so she'll make a connection between talking to God and God's response.  This has happened twice lately and I just wanted to share these two little testimonies with you.

The first was a couple weeks ago.  I was running late (as always!) and was supposed to be picking Brian up from the car shop.  I had Miriam and Hannah with me and I couldn't find my keys.  I searched the house and the garage at least two times and couldn't find them anywhere.  I kept asking Hannah to help me look and she did as well as a two year old can be expected to do.  I had prayed in my head a few times, but finally, I sat down and had Hannah join me on the couch and together, we asked God to help us find the keys.  I said a short prayer to myself that we would find them quickly so that Hannah would make the connection between the prayer and the answer.  I opened my eyes, and there they were!  Right on the couch peeking out from under a laundry basket.  It was so amazing that God gave that to Hannah. What a blessing.

We had a similar experience this morning.  It's been very dry here as in much of the country and our garden is suffering.  The grass on the lawns is turning brown and everything looks pretty sad.  We had some thunder yesterday, but not even enough rain to wet the whole driveway.  This morning, as we prayed over our breakfast, Hannah was repeating my prayer.  I prayed (and so did Hannah) that God would send rain.  During breakfast, the rumbles of thunder started and after we were finished, we went out to our covered porch and watched a good, steady rain come and water the earth.

It's so amazing how God steadily builds a child's faith in Him.  Why is it that as adults our faith is shaken?  Hannah was able to look at those experiences and know that God had answered her prayers--and so was I!  It's really incredible how a child's prayer, and a child's faith, can put things into perspective.