The Faith of a Child
A few months ago, someone told me about The Beginner's Bible. My kids hear Bible stories every single day at school and at church every Sunday. Yet, I was recently convicted that I wasn't taking the necessary time to sit down and read the Bible with them. So, I ordered it off Amazon and decided to make it my goal to read with them every night before bed.
At first, the boys were acting kind of silly. Mostly, Eli. He has the attention span of a knat and Silas thinks everything he does is funny. Eli would either be making silly noises, moving around all over the bed or asking a bazillion random questions having nothing to do with the story. "Mommy, what do bad guys do? Mommy, what do squirrels eat?" You get the idea. I was frustrated at first. But, I realized this was because I hadn't invested the time. Reading the Bible was something they did at school, not with me. I hate to admit it, but it's true. Praying wasn't so easy at first for them either. Sure, we pray at meals and such but I had not been great about praying with them often other than that. Basically, for whatever reason, this hit me hard one day and I layed in my bed and cried feeling like a complete failure. Why had I not made this a priority? It doesn't matter how many fun things I do with them and all the time I invest, if I'm not doing the most important job - that is, instilling God's truth in them. It isn't the school's job. It isn't the church's job. It's my job.
So all that to say, as frustrating as the first few times were, this has become something the boys and I look forward to each night. They never forget. Silas always grabs the Bible and turns to where we left off. We decided to just read it straight though. Eli has become a better listener and sits still a little longer, but Silas has become fascinated. He is entralled with the stories, the pictures and has tons of questions. I have always seen his sensitivity towards God in listening to his prayers, his questions and talking about things he's learned about God. But last night was special.
We had finally made it to the New Testament, so naturally we're learning about the birth of Jesus and why God sent His Son to earth. After reading, Silas was intrigued and was asking about Jesus, sins, forgiveness, heaven, etc. I answered all of his questions and all of the sudden he whispered, "I should do that. I should pray that right now." A few moments later, completely on his own, he prayed, "Dear Jesus. Please come into my heart. Please forgive me of my sins. In Jesus name, Amen." I was actually a bit stunned. Mostly because I didn't ask him if he wanted to pray that, nor did I tell him what to pray. It was completely on his on initiative, from his heart. So simple. So innocent.
Since last night he's suddenly a prayer warrior. After they had gone to bed, I heard Eli crying. When I went in the room to check on him, Eli said, "I scared." Silas told him, "It's okay, Eli. God is right here with us and He'll protect us. I prayed that He would protect us and keep us safe."
This morning he excitedly told Dusty, "Daddy, do you know what I prayed last night??? I asked Jesus into my heart." He came to me later and said, "Mommy, you'll never guess what I did. I was scared, so I asked God to protect me and now I'm not scared. Jesus is always with me."
He has told me countless things he has prayed about today - everything from not being scared, to his hiccups going away, to thanking God for coming into his heart, for Eli to not be hot when he goes to sleep, etc. He's taking this prayer thing very seriously!
I don't know what more to say except that I am so blessed and humbled by this little boy. There is no purer picture of faith than that of a child. I pray that God will continue to work in his heart and that the seeds that have been planted will continue to flourish and grow. I pray that God will give me guidance, patience and love as I seek to parent my children and raise them up in Him.
"The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them." Mark 10:13-16
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