I
love small children; they are so innocent and they reveal that
quality openly, without reservation. This little girl had trouble
praying, but instead of being frustrated, just said all the letters
(of the alphabet) and left the rest up to God. Now, there is an
attitude towards God that we all should emulate – Trust. Obviously,
I thought of the Bible after reading this story and then the book of
Romans…
Rom
8:19-27 (
World
English
Bible
)
(19)
For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God
to be revealed.
(20)
For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but
because of him who subjected it, in hope
(21)
that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of
decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
(22)
For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain
together until now.
(23)
Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
adoption, the redemption of our body.
(24)
For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who
hopes for that which he sees?
(25)
But if we hope for that which we don’t
see, we wait for it with patience.
(26)
In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t
know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
(27)
He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s
mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
God
works in mysterious ways
to care for his children and prayer is one of them. I remember that
one day in chapel (Northeast School of Biblical Studies about
1977) a fellow classmate of mine stood at
the podium for the opening prayer and just could not pray. He stood
there for the longest time, began to shake a little and then
to cry. You see, he had been wanting to study for the ministry for
years, but just wasn’t making the
necessary grades. Some of the brothers that were closest to him gave
him comfort and the instructors gave him extra help over the next
couple of years and eventually he succeeded. I will always remember
him for his faith and the child-like trust he had towards God.
Like
the emphasized portion from Romans says- God intercedes for us, even
when we encounter situations that make us
feel unable to
anything to help ourselves.
Jesus
said...
Mat
19:14 ( WEB
)
But
Jesus said, “Allow
the little
children,
and don’t
forbid them to come to me; for
the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like
these.”
May
God give us all the ability to pray from the heart (with
or without words).