My heart is so heavy for our youth.
Before Bible reading and prayer were taken out of our public schools, talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, and getting out of line were some of the leading discipline problems for students. Teachers now have to worry about school shootings, assault, teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and teen suicide. It was not the right decision to take God out.
Luke 11:1-13. Matthew 18:3. There is a difference between being childish and being child-like. Matthew 18:4. If you will become like a child in your prayer life, you can move Heaven.
A child will not allow the last answer to affect their next petition. A child will not quit asking.
A child will keep asking because they know that the one they are asking loves them and wants to give them their request. We must stop basing our prayer life on whether or not our last prayer was answered. Instead, we should base it on the Holy Bible that declares God answers prayer. If you’ve prayed 10 times and your prayer isn’t answered yet, it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t answer prayer. The Word of God says that if you pray, He’ll answer. If you seek, you will find. If you ask, the Word of God says you will receive. 1 John 5:14. Jeremiah 33:3. Psalms 50:15. Psalms 138:2.
Do you really trust that God loves you?
Do you really believe that the Creator of Heaven and Earth knows you? Philippians 4:19. Psalms 9:10. God has not forsaken you. Ephesians 2:4.
My grandchildren, Kara and Henry differ in their ways of asking. Kara will ask a few times for something and then what really gets me is when she says, “I love you, Poppy.” Do you ever stop praying for a moment and start worshipping? Sometimes you can be praying in the spirit and then you start to move from your spirit to your flesh. Instead of praying from your heart, you begin to pray from your mind. And the carnal mind is enmity against God. God is a spirit, and you can’t talk to Him if you remain in the carnal.
I was working outside with Henry one day. He was working so hard, but I could tell he had a plan. He looked up and eyed my tractor, “Nice tractor.” He said. He waited a little bit and then said, “Want to ride tractor?” I just kept working. But after a second he said, “Please, Poppy, let’s ride tractor.” I didn’t care about the rest of my work because that baby had moved me. I didn’t love him any less the first and second times he asked. But it was his continuous asking and his gentleness that moved me.
God really does love you. We have to understand who the Lord is. He’s gentle, kind, and merciful. He’s altogether lovely.
A child believes that you can fix anything.
I had bought my son, John, a knife. While he was praying with one of his friends, they ended up breaking it. They didn’t know I was there, and I heard his little friend say, “Let’s throw it away and hide it so no one will get mad and upset at us.” My son said, “Thow it away? My dad can fix anything!” I knew if my son had that much confidence in me, I was going to fix that knife.
God can fix anything. What you are facing may look impossible but think of how great God is. Think about what He has done. There’s nothing too big for God. Psalms 50:10. God has so many cattle, he doesn’t bother to count them. Instead, He counts the hills they are on. Whatever you need, God will provide.
A child, no matter what is going on, has 100% of your attention.
1 Peter 3:12. God doesn’t only listen to me or my Shelia. God listens to you. Jeremiah 29:13. If you, a human, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Lord give unto you? God has not forsaken you. His ear is open to your cry. This is not the last chapter in your book.
It makes God feel good when you come around Him. God loves you and longs for your presence. You don’t have to pray like someone else. You are not someone else. You are you. God wants YOU.
We need to learn to forgive like a child.
Kids can be fussing at one another one minute and the next they are best friends. This God who is holy will not hear our prayer when there is hatred in our hearts toward each other. Hatred will hinder your prayer. Forgiveness is an important policy in a relationship with prayer. If we are going to be forgiven, we have to forgive. Ephesians 4:13. Matthew 6:14.
Children are needy.
They can’t protect themselves or provide for themselves. They seldom make the right decisions, because they see nothing beyond having fun right now. God wants us totally dependent on Him. Psalms 70:5. Psalms 40:17.
A child is humble.
Humble — having a showing of modesty or low estimate of one’s own value or importance. A child doesn’t say, “Look how holy and important I am.” A child says, “I’m just a little child that needs you, Jesus.”
We need to learn to approach Jesus like a little child. If we could learn to do this and really apply it, I believe our prayer life would go through an amazing change!
— Pastor Anthony Wynn
