Praying Like a Child; Waiting Like an Adult

 


What does it mean for us to pray like a child? That is, after all, what is implied by the opening words of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father..." And Jesus calls his disciples to be like children, right? I don't think it's a stretch for this to be our starting position when we pray. 

Of course, it's helpful to make the distinction between being child-like and childish. 

I believe Jesus is pointing to the fact that children are inevitably vulnerable. We as parents take their hands when we're on a sidewalk next to a busy street. Children tend to make mistakes, say what they think at times when it can be uncomfortable and ask for things continually. Children don't have positions of power or influence either. In sum, they have to rely on someone to guide them. I think that's the point. 

Our prayer lives ought to look like we are constantly in need of someone to guide us. Because that's exactly what we need if we're followers of Jesus. Praying like a child means to be needy and helpless before the Lord. 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inhabit the earth.

But my tendency is to pray like an adult. Even as I prepared to teach on this topic, I realized there's a big thing in my life I've been thinking a lot about, talking to others about...but not praying for. Maybe it's because I subconsciously don't believe God will answer my prayer. But that's not how children think. If something is on their mind, they talk about it.

I've found that my natural tendency is to pray like an adult - filtering what I should and should not pray for - while waiting like a child - impatiently. It ought to be the opposite. 

The concept of waiting is all over the Bible. The vast majority of Israel who left Egypt in the Exodus didn't enter the Promised Land. The prophets who witnessed the destruction of their land never saw the restoration. Hebrews 11 is full of examples of heroes who never experienced the promise. There are so many passages in the Bible that tell us in any number of ways to wait for the Lord. 

Waiting is that space where we're changed. In the Bible, it's often associated literally and figuratively with a desert. The point is that there's no way for us to control the situation. Joseph was in an Egyptian jail. Israel wandered in the desert. David fled from Saul in caves. They didn't know how the story was going to end. 

Photo by Ivars Krutainis on Unsplash

O God you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Even an expression that seems more tame to us - "remaining" or "abiding" in the Lord - still conveys the fact that we will spend our time waiting. And it's during these times that we are changed. 

Just taking a cursery glance through Paul's epistles, there are four letters in a row in which he prays for change in the people he's writing to:

  • ...to be strengthened with power through his Spirit... (Eph 3:16)
  • ...that your love may abound more and more... (Phi 1:9)
  • ...increasing in the knowledge of God...(Col 1:10)
  • ...may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another (I Thes 3:12)

Answers to these prayers, regardless of if we're praying for others or for ourselves, requires us to be patient. It requires us to wait on the Lord. We may not see results in our lifetime!

And see, I think we're aware of that and it's one of the things that keeps us from praying in the first place. 

This is why I'm reminding myself; Pray like a child...and wait like an adult. 

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