Pray Without Ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

This was one of the photos from our week last week. I chose not to include it in yesterday's post because it has come to mean so much to me and it deserved its own post.

I have found (and have often told Kristi in our talks and texts) that God preaches incredible sermons to me through my toddler whose vocabulary is just beginning to take off.

On Wednesday as we were driving home from meeting my mom-in-law for lunch, I kept hearing in the back seat, "Elmo, pray!" She would then fold his hands, bow her head, squint her eyes, babble a few syllables, and end with "A-men!" This continued throughout the car ride home.

That night as Faye, Addie, and I ate dinner as we waited for Brian to get home from work (it was a late night for him), she kept putting her hands together and saying, "Pray!" Far be it from me to hinder my daughter from praying, so I re-prayed for the food. However, she continued to put her hands together and say, "Pray!" I began thanking God for all of His provisions. After a few rounds of this, the thought suddenly occurred to me that maybe God was using Addie to tell me that I needed to pray for someone. So I began to pray for Brian, my dad, my parents-in-law, Uncle Jim, and the rest of our loved ones who were not with us at that moment (you were all covered in prayer last Wednesday!).

When Brian came home, he mentioned something off hand how God had protected him that evening- he had had to stand on the top step of a ten foot ladder in order to do his job. I told him that God had used Addie to have us pray for him earlier that night. We both gave Addie squeezes, and I thanked God for giving me the listening ears to hear what He was trying to tell me. So many times I hear that still small voice and think it is me, but so often it is the Lord. I wish I could say that I always act on what I hear that quiet voice say, but unfortunately I don't. I let my head get in the way of my heart, and I analyze what I feel speaking to my heart.

Addie has continued to want to pray while we are driving (on Saturday as we drove home from Denny's, it was Aunt Faye's turn to pray for most of the ride home), eating, playing in her room, and getting dressed. And I have continued to pray along with her, because sometimes a 2 year old is better at hearing the voice of the Lord than a 34 year old is.