A few nights ago while going through the bedtime routine with my 2 year old son, it came time to say our nightly prayer. When I said, “OK, let’s say our prayer” out of the blue my son began to sing; “Thank you Father, Thank you Father, for our food, for our food, and our many blessings, and our many blessings, Amen, Amen.” Then he said, “Daddy sing.” I applauded his prayer, sitting there somewhat shocked, half wanting to correct him by explaining to him that his prayer was for a meal and not for bedtime, and half just in awe that he sang that whole song / prayer, and so I joined him in singing. We sang it over and over again and I began to reflect on the beautiful simplicity of this prayer and joy God must feel in hearing his little son’s praise.
A couple of Sunday’s ago I had the blessed opportunity to be a part of Logan Rodger’s first sermon and all the prep that went into it. It was one of the more difficult tasks that I have engaged in my all my years in youth ministry. We spent hours reflecting over the concept of prayer and over the profound simplicity of the Lord’s Prayer, over the many conversations between God and His people throughout the Old and New Testaments. As I reflected back on the chopping block of things we discussed about prayer and the many things that we could have said, I find myself consumed by the Psalms of thanksgiving and praise, the prayers of a nation often sung to the beats of music. I can’t help but wonder, in all the profound interpretations, in all of the philosophical jargon, in all of the endless speculation about God, if God isn’t looking for just a simple heartfelt prayer or song.
Ephesians 5:18-20 (NIV) “…be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” My son knows this scripture, but has never read it. I have read it many times for the wrong reasons and have never heard it. Today I reflect on my prayer’s to God, my songs that I sing, and over the profound words of a simple song that a two year old sang, that taught me more about prayer then all the many conversations, books, and teachings I have engaged in. Thanks, God.
