“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Dear God, help me to be an air force pilot, and an astronaut, a preacher, and millionaire. Help me to be smart like the really smart kids in school. Help me make all A’s & B’s and no F’s. Help my mom and dad to get me Star Wars & GI Joe toys for my birthday. Be with my mom, dad, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, my friends, our cats, and our dog Spot. Help them all go to heaven. Be with the hostages in Iran, and bring them home. In Jesus Name, Amen. … oh PS. Keep all the monsters away.”
A prayer by Vic Pruett, age 7, September 1980
Over 25 years have gone by and I still remember those prayers like they were just the other day. Why is that? I have always wondered why I still think about those prayers I prayed so many times. They were not amazing prayers, in fact many seven year olds have prayed much better prayers. But for some reason this prayer more than all the others is burned into my memory. Sure I said it over and over again, but I have prayed many repetitious prayers all my life. Why did that one stick?
One day while reading 1 John 3:11-22, I read this verse, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” NIV. It hit me, the reason that prayer in 1980 is so powerful to me is because I really believed God was listening and that He would give me what I was asking for. Prayer by faith is powerful, prayer with doubt is weak and forgettable. If we have a hard time remembering our prayers, especially the recent ones, maybe it’s time to take them more seriously. To know that we are not just speaking to air, but that we are speaking to the Creator and our Father. He asks us to be faithful to Him, and promises to give us more than we need or imagine.
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