Lessons on prayer from the heart of children...

My favorite part of living at home is the girls' bedtime...not because they are going to sleep so much, but mostly because they pray every night before bed. I have recently started having them pray their prayers instead of listening to mine.

Natalie loves to pray, she thinks it's super fun. She prays about everything from asking for help to be good at school, so her and Halli don't get spankings to our family's health and security. I think Nat thinks her prayers are best done when they make someone giggle. Her joy in prayer reminds me of how priviledged we are to have such a simple form of communication with The God of the Universe. Praying should be nothing less than a joy to us, because it really is such a wonderful priviledge.

Halli on the other hand, is much more serious. Her prayers involve a list of every one of our family members and their needs...she always know what people need even though we never tell her. Halli prays that everyone in the world will come to know Jesus. *tear..seriously* and she thoughtfully considers all the things that we need God's help with, which occasionally includes casting our worries aside. Halli's meticulous care for our friends' and family members' individual needs reminds me that my prayer needs to be more intercessory and a little less self-involved.

I love that my sisters can teach me so much by something so simple as bedtime prayers. :)

And my all time favorite part of their prayers--"And I love you Lord. And Jesus, too!"