Read: Philippians 4:4-7
Reflect: Every night her words were exactly the same. “Dear Jesus, please let baby grow big and strong.” I was in my second trimester and facing ten weeks of strict bedrest, hospital stays and steroid shots in the hopes that we could prevent our dear second baby girl from being born prematurely. We desperately wanted her 2 year old older sister’s prayer to come true, “Lord, give her enough time to grow big and strong”. While many prayers were whispered and spoken during my pregnancy, our oldest child’s prayer stayed simple and the same. Every single night she prayed for her sister to be big and strong.
It came time to choose a name as I neared the third trimester and my husband suggested “Audrey Jean”, a name we had never talked about and had no particular significance to us. While we aren’t big name meaning people I always look it up to make sure it doesn’t have some horrible association that will stick with our kiddo for the rest of their life.
So I looked it up. Audrey meant noble strength. Jean meant God is gracious. Audrey Jean was born at 40 plus weeks pregnant with no complications and a perfect picture of health and strength.
God was gracious. God answered the simple prayer of a precious 2 year old.
WE CAN QUICKLY OVERCOMPLICATE PRAYER
The scriptures speak of prayer over and over again. There are prayers of thanksgiving. Prayers for healing. Prayers of worship and prayers of intercession. There are prayers of faith and prayers of agreement. Simply put, we can become overwhelmed at the sheer volume of scripture on prayer – 367 verses that mention prayer specifically (if Google is to be believed-I ran out of time to count). We can quickly overcomplicate prayer and what prayer is supposed to look like.
PRAYER IS WHEN YOU TALK TO GOD
My two year old though? She knew nothing of prayer except for this – prayer is when you talk to God. She took Philippians 4:6 and lived it out. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This is what she did every single night. She went to God with nothing but faith and made her request. She called on Jesus and he listened. God took the simple unadorned prayer of a two year old and answered it.
This week is sweet Audrey Jean’s 5th birthday. Her life is a continual reminder of the power of simple prayers.
Apply: What does your prayer life look like? Are you approaching Jesus with expectant faith? Are you overcomplicating the simple act of speaking to Jesus so much so that prayer isn’t even happening? Let us take the faith and prayer of a two year old as an example and seek to spend some simple time talking to our Savior.
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