"And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."
Mark 10:13-16
My Little Debbie Girl sings the following song in her school time:
"Early in the morning, little children pray
Then again at noon time, then at close of day
God has said, 'I'll answer prayer if my children pray'
What a blessed promise this:
So little children, Pray!"
I love to hear her sweet little voice as it floats down the hallway to my ears and right down into my heart.
And I love to hear my children pray. How refreshing it is to me to hear their sincerity as they voice their desires and needs to their Heavenly Father.
My children are each praying for a specific thing, a material desire that they each have. My husband has helped them set up a savings system so that they can save money for that "thing" they desire.
In April, Debbie saw the Lord answer one of her prayers. She had been praying for a certain "thing," and had been praying and saving for that "thing." We looked online several times to see if she could get it for a better price online. Then one day, we were shopping in the capitol city of our state, and she saw her "thing," and guess what: It was on sale for way less than what we had found online! It was marked down 70% of its regular price, and about $10 dollars less than what we had found online! Her daddy gave her permission to buy it. She kept telling me, "God answered my prayer, Mommy!" Her "thing" is a constant reminder to all of us that God is interested in the lives of little children, even taking interest in their desires.
My young son, Andrew, has been saving up for his "desired thing," and had been able to save up over half of what he needs to purchase it. Every so often he'd take out his money and count it, then figure out how much more he needed to purchase his "desired thing."
Our church has started to build a new auditorium on the new church property, and our Pastor urges the members to give toward this building project.
One Saturday night as I was ironing our clothes for Sunday, Little Andrew came to me and said, "Mommy, I feel like I need to give my savings to the building offering. Every time they announce that more money is needed for the new church building, I think about that money that I have in my savings." I asked him, "Andrew, let me ask you one question: Do you feel like God is asking you to give that money?"
His big brown eyes filled with tears, and he said, "Yes, Mommy, I think God is asking me to give that money."
I did the best I could to keep my own composure and I pulled him to me and hugged him. He said, "Mommy, it's so hard!"
I looked right into those sweet eyes and said, "Andrew, I want to tell you that right now I feel so happy. You know why?! It makes me happy to think that God would speak to you! Imagine that! God wants YOU to give YOUR money! He wants to use YOU to bless the church!"
I explained that God is a Spirit, and that He needs our hands to be His hands; He needs our feet to be His feet; and He needs our mouth to be His mouth! "Andrew," I said, "He wants to use YOUR hands, YOUR feet, YOUR money!!!"
I continued, "I want to tell you another thing: It would be a wonderful thing if at your young age, you could learn to be obedient to God's voice; that every time God wants to use you, and when He leads you to do something, that you would be obedient. God blesses obedience, and God will bless YOU if you are obedient to Him! Great joy comes from being obedient to God."
He was quiet, as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Mommy, what should I do?" I said, "Honey, you need to decide what to do. I will be praying for you. I know you will make the RIGHT decision."
A few minutes later, he went to bed. How I prayed for my young son, asking God would help him to make the right decision.
The next morning, he was up early. I heard him go to the washroom and get his clothes. He brushed his hair and put on his nice Sunday shoes. Then he appeared in the door of the kitchen with a big smile on his face: "Mommy, I've made my decision. I'm gonna give my money to the church."
Then tears came to MY eyes as I hugged him!!!
After church that evening, he walked out to the church office and had a talk with the treasurers of our church. He put his money into an offering envelope and filled it out and turned in his money.
How my heart is overwhelmed with emotion as I think about that...I pray that my children would be sensitive and obedient to the Lord's voice. I would be so grateful if being obedient to the Lord's voice would be worth more to them than any worldly, material possession. To me, there is nothing worth more than being obedient to God's voice. How I desire for our children to learn that early in life!
What a blessing it is when Little Children Pray!!!
