A Child’s Prayers

One of the great blessings of our lives as parents has been listening to our kids pray. When they are small, children pray without the showiness that sometimes creeps into our prayers as grown-ups, without that sort of “prayerese,” a language meant to appeal more to anyone listening than to God. And when Colton and Cassie offered prayers in their plain, earnest way, it seemed that God answered.

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, 124

Sonja

When Heaven Is for Real became a New York Times best seller, Todd and I didn’t know what to think of it. When it stayed at the top of the best-seller list, we really didn’t know what to think! But we vividly remember the day when Colby, then about four, came into the room and announced in a very Colton-like way, “I know why Heaven Is for Real is number one.”

We tuned in, wondering what he was going to say.

“It’s because of me,” he said. “Well, God too. But I’ve been praying for that. That’s why the book’s number one.”

While Colton is our rather quiet, sensitive, matter-of-fact child, Colby, now seven, is our family comedian—and also our family inspiration when it comes to having an amazing prayer life.

I pray with Colby at bedtime (I prayed with Colton and Cassie too when they were young, but now that they’re older they pray on their own). One night, as Colby and I prayed together, he remembered that we had prayed earlier that day as a family, asking God to give us just the right words to say in an upcoming national television interview. That night, Colby prayed that Colton would “do good” in the interview. And I have to tell you, the next day, when the host of the Christian TV program turned to Colton and, without having mentioned it to him beforehand, asked him to pray to close the interview, Colton absolutely knocked it out of the park. (It’s the prayer we share on page 233 at the end of the book.) He prayed confidently but humbly, asking God to reach the unbelievers. It was a short but powerful prayer that basically left all of us breathless.

When we called home and told Colby and Cassie about it, Colby had his usual answer ready: “I prayed for that.”

All his life, Colby has seen his parents and siblings praying, but I think it’s been Colton’s prayers that have influenced him most. Colby has the sweetest, closest conversations with God. I think of adults who are shy about praying aloud in front of others, and I wish they could have the innocent attitude toward prayer that Colby has.

He understands, though, that God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we hope. When our friend Wilfred underwent heart surgery, Colby took full credit for his surviving for sixty days following the surgery because he had prayed for him nearly every night.

But then came the day when Wilfred died. We dreaded telling Colby but knew we had to. Finally I took him aside, knelt down in front of him and said, “Colby, Jesus took Wilfred to heaven.”

His shoulders sagged, and he looked sad but didn’t say anything. We didn’t know how he was processing the news, but at prayer time that night we sat down together, and he said, “Mom, can I pray first?”

“Sure,” I said. “Go head, Colby.”

He bowed his head, put his hands together and said, “God, I just pray you give Wilfred a really good time in heaven.”

Then he looked at me. “Okay, Mom, your turn,” he said.

I couldn’t speak. Everything I would have said, Colby had summed up in those few, faith-filled words.

“Mom? Your turn.”

“I can’t.”

“You have to. It’s your turn.”

I couldn’t trust my voice not to break. All I could squeak out without sobbing was to say, “What Colby said, Jesus. Amen.”

Sometimes we wonder if our kids can understand what we may think are adult situations beyond their comprehension—like a Christian friend’s death even though we prayed he would live—when in fact the kids may be way ahead of us. That was certainly the case when Wilfred died. While all of us adults were stuck in our earthly grief, Colby was already picturing our friend’s arrival in heaven and asking God to show him a good time.

Sometimes adults think they have to speak in flowery “prayer-ese” when they’re praying. But I’m convinced that our children’s simple prayers fall as sweetly on God’s ears as they do on ours. We should all speak so simply—to each other and to God!

As an example, Colby recently prayed for another friend—an elderly church member, Ruby, whose vision has been failing, causing her to suffer some falls. One night as we knelt together by Colby’s bed, he prayed, “Dear Jesus, please keep Ruby’s heart beating so she stays alive, and help her when she falls down. She’s been falling down a lot lately, Jesus, and I don’t want her to get hurt.”

Children’s prayers are precious and powerful, full of the simplest and purest joy, love, and faith.

If you’re one of those people who have a hard time putting voice to your prayers, let your young children’s prayers be your guide.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

—Matthew 19:14 NIV