Miraculous Freedom

            I have been described a time or two as being determined. Because of this known fact, I’m not sure that it came as a surprise to my mom that my 8-year-old self boldly proclaimed, “I’ll just pray about it” when she did not give me the answer I was looking for. The thing is, what I was asking for was a baby brother or sister for Christmas – not the normal 8-year-old request! She was definitely surprised by the turn of events in the next year. God answered my prayer, and I did get a baby sister for Christmas (mid-January was close enough!).

            This experience has become one of those flag-in-the-sand moments in my life. I honestly don’t know why my first and immediate response was “I’ll just pray about it”. Normally I would have come up with the best reasons I could for getting my way and possibly even gone back and forth with my mom. Maybe it was because she was adamant, or maybe it was because I couldn’t produce a good argument on this one. Or maybe God wanted to show me at an early age what turning straight to prayer can do. Whatever the reason or reasons, I saw myself as a pray-er after this. What a gift!

Maybe God wanted to show me at an early age what turning straight to prayer can do.

            We have been given free access to our Father. We can boldly approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). We can approach as boldly as an 8-year-old who just wants it her way. We have freedom to come as little children (Matthew 19:14). In fact, this verse actually goes on to say that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. These whose trust and faith and belief allows them to see life in a much purer way. Sadly, something happens as we grow older. We tend to lose our sense of wonder and awe. Somehow, we shift into thinking instead of praying.

            I catch myself doing this quite often. I mean to pray about a pressing issue, but instead I think about what could be done. I might even start praying and still shift into plain old thinking. I want to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I want my first reaction to be “I’ll just pray about it”. So let’s try it. Let’s be people who pray first and think second. Let’s see ourselves as pray-ers. Let’s take Him at His word to boldly come to Him. Then let’s see what He will do. The 8-year-old in me dares you to “just pray about it”!

The 8-year-old in me dares you to “just pray about it”!