If you ever need someone to pray — before a meal, before bed, or for anything whatsoever — L. is your man. All someone has to do is merely begin to ask, “Who would like to pray?” and he yells, “ME! I WILL!”
This is a good thing. I’m glad my 3-year-old likes to pray and is enthusiastic about praying.
But sometimes, well…you just never know what words will come out of his mouth when he prays.
Take last night, for instance. He prayed for our dinner. Except he really didn’t mention the dinner at all. He thanked God for the day, and then thanked God for something that he (L) and Ed had been able to do that day.
Ed is one of his imaginary friends.
My tween, C., looked at me and asked if that was acceptable. You know, praying about imaginary friends? I said of course it was fine.
At times, L.’s prayers have been indecipherable. He’ll start off with words we know, like “Thank you.” But then he’ll go off on a long, rambling discussion of which we only understand about 30% of the words. The rest are either made-up words or just words where his own “kid language” is not quite aligned with standard English.
As the prayer goes on and on, C. usually finds himself holding back the giggles, while Chad and I attempt to maintain some sense of decorum. I’m sure God understands what L. is saying, even if we don’t.
The other night before bed, L. really caught me off guard. As I was tucking him into bed for the night, he began his prayer, and it went something like this:
“Dear God, Thank you for this day. And thank you for the powers that are inside us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Hm… I wasn’t sure where this had come from. Had he heard someone else praying about power of some sort? Had a TV show discussed super-powers and he just wanted to make sure he prayed about those, too?
So I asked him.
“Hey L. — What do you mean by ‘the powers that are inside us’?”
“Well,” he quickly replied, “I have Super-L. Power, Night-time L. Power, and Read-a-Lot Power. Those are the powers that are inside me.”
Okay then.
Over the course of the next day or two, I found out that Read-a-Lot Power is fairly self-explanatory. He can read some words and has apparently decided that it’s not merely an ability or some knowledge gained, but rather, it’s a Power. With a capital P, of course.
Night-time L. Power is the power that enables L. to sleep all night without calling his parents for no apparent reason. Remember the chart I used to help establish this habit? I guess my negotiations and rewards were enough to create the habit, but it takes Night-time L. Power to maintain it.
As for Super-L. Power… I have no idea. My guess is that it’s a Power that comprises all the other wonderful qualities my 3-year-old exhibits on a daily basis. I do happen to think L. is pretty super. So I guess I can go along with the concept of Super-L. Power.
I know that as L. gets older, he might become a bit more self-conscious about his prayers. He might try to make them fit some kind of mold, or he might be too shy to pray in front of others. So for now, as unique or confusing or amusing as his prayers can sometimes be, I’m thanking God for a little boy who will pray about anything and everything, even imaginary friends and super-powers.
Katrina, your story is so sweet and touching. L. is a wonderful boy, and pretty interesting too. My 3 year old also prays, but not as willingly as L., in fact Rusty and i ask him to pray, he also says nothing abt meals or nothing abt being greatful, but he includes his sister in his prayers which makes me happy. Thank you for sharing L. story, i enjoyed it.
That’s precious! I know his prayers are sweet incense to God!
That is so adorable, Katrina. What a sweet child. Stephen just uses the standard “God is great, God is good, now we thank Him for our food. A—–men” for ANY situation. He hasn’t quite caught on that his conversations with God can be about anything, but like you, I am just happy that I can get him to pray..about SOMETHING.
That. is. AWESOME! =D haha! I LOVE it! I think God will honor, be pleased and smile on those sweet prayers. How cool is that?! (And I want some Super Night Time Power to help me sleep all through the night without waking up even ONE time!! =D
What a beautiful story! If he wants to come and say prayers at my home, he is welcome!
LOVE this story about L. Such the sweet kid you have there.
Kim
The Misplaced Midwesterner
.-= Kim´s last post ..Gorton’s Mother’s Day Fish Taco Fiesta! =-.
AMEN
Love Grammy
Isn’t it great that God understands all of our prayers even if we don’t? He is definitely a sweet child. My prayer is that God continue to bless him and your family.
I’m convinced that from God’s side of the conversation L.’s prayers sound about like most others that God hears from our side. So, L. is just getting an early start which is wonderful.
I can’t wait to hear what L. hears back from God. I’ll stay tuned.
So sweet.
Can I be honest and say that when I am asking for a kid volunteer to say the blessing at dinner, Kyle (5) often says, “Not me” or points to his big sister.
His big sister is also good at noticing and pointing out inappropriate praying behavior.
.-= Jennifer, Snapshot´s last post ..My Father’s Dragon =-.
That is hysterical and precious all at once! My 6 yr old would pray that same way and my teen girls & I would look at each other and start saying our own prayers that we didn’t lose it! =)
How sweet! My 4yo is our prayer warrior around here. About any and everything, but my 11 year old keeps trying to “correct” them. Sigh.
sooo sweet!!
What a God we serve who in His tender condescension welcomes the prayers of a 3 year old and a 40 (plus) year old (me)! There is nothing we cannot to bring to Him!