Last night my Daughter-in-Love came over with my precious grandbabies while my son worked late. We had dinner and a fun night playing. Toward the end of the evening, two-year-old “Sweets” asked me to play “Ring Around the Rosie” with her. I told her I would sing with her, but I didn’t want to go round and round or fall down because I had a headache. She replied, “Oh, you have a headache? Can I pray for you?” Of course you can pray for me! She came over, took my hand, and said, “Dear Jesus, Babble, babble, babble, babble, babble. In Jesus’ name, Amen”. She looked up at me and said, “Is your headache better? Can we play now?” She was so certain. We played “Ring Around the Rosie.”

It was the sweetest thing and made me teary-eyed. I didn’t understand a word she said. The funny thing is, “Sweets” is very verbal and never babbles. Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (NIV) Isn’t it amazing that the God of the Universe knew exactly what she was saying and the intent of her heart through the Holy Spirit? She prayed in her own little prayer language, and God knew what she said. Incredible.

Parents and grandparents, it’s never too early to begin teaching your babies to pray. Pray before meals and bedtime, but pray at other times as well. And pray when you don’t know how God’s going to answer. One night when my kids were little, Randy and my dad were trying to fix my car in the garage downstairs and were having trouble. I gathered the kids and my mom and said, “Let’s pray for the car.” As soon as we said “Amen,” we heard the engine roar to life! The kids (and adults) were so excited! Another time, we took our “new to us” trailer out for a weekend at a nearby campground with my parents. We were close enough to home that my dad and Randy were both working during the day. As is typical in Washington State, it started to pour down rain, and we quickly discovered a leak in the roof of the trailer. This was before the time of cell phones, so we couldn’t call to let the guys know that we had a leak. So, we prayed together for the rain to stop. Well, the rain didn’t stop, but soon after, my dad came driving up on his lunch break with a tarp. Not the expected answer, but an answer nonetheless!

There were countless other times where our prayers were not answered as quickly or in the way that we had hoped. But we learned together to trust God with the outcome. And now we continue to teach the next generation about the goodness and sovereignty of God. What an amazing thing. If you haven’t started praying with your kids yet, don’t miss out on the opportunity to watch God show up in awesome ways and see your kids learn about the goodness of God.

And thank you, “Sweets”, for praying for my headache last night. I feel better.