Praying Children

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. (1Jn 3:1)

Is it in our nature to pray? The Lord Jesus Christ, being the Son of God dedicated time towards prayer. In the early hours, despite having worked through the night, when rest would have been the obvious option, He was resolute with His need for prayer and seeking the Father. Yet we, vessels of clay and dust seem impervious to our need for prayer. It does look dubious, if we do not, as children, recognize this incongruence.

A casual observation will tell on our comfit with prayer; if we have to struggle when asked to pray, when our prayers ramble like a runaway train, when our expressions are repetitious stereo-typed clichés, or the mere passing mention of subjects or names. Our prayers will however take on more, only when the Father is seen to be the Arbitrator of last resort. How characteristic, are our dialogs with our Father? Whilst it is true that infants can not immediately have conversations, still, any infant who does not develop speech after years, would be a subject of grave concern. Even babies have been observed to vocalize in their early attempts to communicate. A desire to communicate is innate in every babe. Personal, private prayer is simplistically our own conversations with the Father and as with the personal, form and shape need not be rigid.

To lead in priestly prayer requires schooling and tutelage. The function as "priests" has shown decline over the years. But, it is not that we lack the resources; perhaps we should revisit the prayer books of the past, to consider their liturgy and their content to make comparison and study. Prayer books were written for a time when literacy was not as widespread, but clearly the prayer writers of old had a more succinct appreciation of their duty. The erosion in focus, texts, content, and heart is most apparent when we compare their prayers thoughts and response. Another testament of our ineptitude can be found when we compare contemporary Christian songs with the hymnals of old. We simply do not attend to such matters today, as tediously and meticulously as the saints of old.

Would it then be timely and urgently proper, that we echo the request of the disciple?

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, (Luk 11:1)

God bless.




/ckh