Little Prayers with Big Power

I am blessed to teach the Kindergarden to 2nd grade Sunday School class at church. Every Sunday, we begin class by taking turns praying. Some of the kids say the same prayer each time, but my favorites are when they pray from the heart.

"Dear God, please help the people in Africa that don't have any food, Please help us to want to be good, please take care of our soliders..." And the list goes on. These little prayers are so sincere and special, you have to hide the smiles that cover your face. And you wonder exactly what they have heard during the week that made such an impact on them. But even more than that, they are powerful. The Bible tells us that Jesus took special care of the little children. I personally believe that those little children have a direct line to God's ear.

My mom tells a story about my own faith in the power of prayer as a small child. She and I had planted a small flowerbed full of gerbera daisies and it was my job to water them. One afternoon, I ran into the house upset because my flowers had wilted. She and I went to investigate and found the flowers to be in a dead wilt. She, the adult, was almost sure that there was no hope for the plants. Me, on the other hand, I was convinced that if I prayed to God about it, he would be able to save my garden. As I knelt on the ground and prayed over my flowers, my mother said her own prayer that God would not crush such tender faith in his power.

The moral of the story... those flowers lived!