The Heart Of A Child

I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.

TRY APPROACHING GOD like a child if you want to keep your relationship fresh and to grow quickly. Lie on your bed in the dark and talk openly and honestly to him about your life. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. . . . Then talk to him about how you’d like him to keep your heart and soul.

A few years ago my Sunday evening children’s program had many new believers and five pastors’ kids. One evening I had the children all lie down on the floor. I dimmed the lights, and I asked the pastors’ kids to pray like they do at bedtime. What a refreshing sound! The simple yet great theology of those little children was inspiring. I left that night realizing that I often let the hectic pace of responsibility steal away those simple, peaceful moments.

I made a vow that day to try to recapture some quiet margin in my life. I linger a little longer with the Lord after my husband has started snoozing, I savor the warmth of hot tea, and I pray as I wait and read my Bible in the morning. I walk. I simply walk around the block and talk with God about my life when things get harried in my office or at my house.

Have a quiet time with a child, and ask the child to teach you and explain to you what they think a verse means. Children have a fresh view of God. A mother was teaching her three-year-old daughter the Lord’s Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime she repeated it after her mother.

One night she said she was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word right up to the end. “And lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us some email. Amen.”