Words from the Printer

   A strange thing happened as I sat down this morning and opened my laptop. My printer spit out two pieces of paper. These same two pages I had printed for my wife last night, but here they were again, a list of sentence prayers by the kids in her Good News Club, ones that the kids wrote last Thursday in that club setting at their school. I did not hit the command P key or anything, they just came out.

   I read over that list and wondered about the faith of these elementary kids. A sampling:

   "Please help me in school"

   "Dear God, I hope that my dog does not die"

   "Help my Mom heal for her arm, please"

   "To help my hed not hert"

   "Please make my dad safe in the Navy"

   "I pray that my aunt and cousins will feel better, because their dad died"

   I think of the verse in Matthew 21, from the NASV:

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

   Praying in faith, believing. There is a lot to unpack in that one verse, but as I try to think about those words and how they play out in my life, I am left with a lot of questions. Questions about why I pray, how much I believe, and my role in the affairs of my own life.

   If I am honest, I wonder if I am worthy to be listened to by the God of the Universe. How could He take any notice of me? What do my cares matter in the great scheme of things in this world?

   As I sit down each morning, open my computer, look at the readings for that day, the first prompt for me in the program is to pray, to write out in the space provided, my prayer as I start my time with Him. So I do. I write out my thoughts as I begin. I ask for help, not only in this time, but in my day that lies ahead. I pray for others. I pray for my attitudes and actions. I reflect on my past days and see my blessings and my sins. I try to write from the heart, and I try to be honest, with God and with myself.

   Sometimes I write for a few minutes, sometimes I go on longer. It is a set part of my day, but I do not want to make it just an exercise. I want God to be in it with me. I know I need His help in everything, especially in those areas that I think I can handle by myself.

   I want to pray in faith, believing that He hears and He cares, and I pray like that man in Jesus time who cried out: (Mark 9:24)

“Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!”

   Or as the New King James Version translates that verse:

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

   Help me to have that child-like faith, like the kids in that Club, and help me know in my times of unbelief, that all of this really matters.