Not long ago, our little community hosted it’s first ‘Prayer & Potatoes’ weekend. You may (not) be surprised to find out that this involved us praying non-stop for 24 hours, and then eating a few tray-loads of jacket potatoes, piled high with cheese, coleslaw, beans and other tasty fillings.
Our 7-year-old daughter, Angel, and I had signed up to pray an hour on Sunday morning. By then, the room was full of prayer... poems and scriptures, piles of stones, paintings and letter-printed names covered the walls and floors. Someone had created a tiny ‘cave’ in one corner, and someone else had cut out paper footprints leading to it. It felt... ‘full’.
While i was still acclimatising, trying to sense and read and take it all in, Angel squeezed past me, grabbed a thick marker pen, knelt down on the large sheets of paper covering the carpeted floor, and started writing. She didn’t hesitate. With confidence, she just got down to it... and wrote these simple words;
‘God is our hope’
I watched her for a while as she continued to write other prayers and statements - ‘God loves us and we love God’, ‘God make families happy and safe’ - and then I knelt on the floor beside her.
“Angel,” I asked, “who do you think needs to feel hope?” “My friend Caitlin,” she answered immediately, “because she gets sick at school every lunchtime. She can’t eat.” “OK, let’s pray for Caitlin then,” I said. So Angel wrote Caitlin’s name on a shell and placed it next to her ‘God is our hope’ prayer, and then she closed her eyes and prayed; “Thank you Jesus for a lovely day... I hope you can help Caitlin not to feel sick at lunchtime. Amen.”
We wrote on more stones and shells, and prayed for other friends during our hour together, and it only dawned on me later that my 7-year-old had led me in prayer, had led me quickly into the presence of God, where hope is found.
Incidentally, Caitlin wasn’t sick on Monday at all.
While i was still acclimatising, trying to sense and read and take it all in, Angel squeezed past me, grabbed a thick marker pen, knelt down on the large sheets of paper covering the carpeted floor, and started writing. She didn’t hesitate. With confidence, she just got down to it... and wrote these simple words;
‘God is our hope’
I watched her for a while as she continued to write other prayers and statements - ‘God loves us and we love God’, ‘God make families happy and safe’ - and then I knelt on the floor beside her.
“Angel,” I asked, “who do you think needs to feel hope?” “My friend Caitlin,” she answered immediately, “because she gets sick at school every lunchtime. She can’t eat.” “OK, let’s pray for Caitlin then,” I said. So Angel wrote Caitlin’s name on a shell and placed it next to her ‘God is our hope’ prayer, and then she closed her eyes and prayed; “Thank you Jesus for a lovely day... I hope you can help Caitlin not to feel sick at lunchtime. Amen.”
We wrote on more stones and shells, and prayed for other friends during our hour together, and it only dawned on me later that my 7-year-old had led me in prayer, had led me quickly into the presence of God, where hope is found.
Incidentally, Caitlin wasn’t sick on Monday at all.
To follow 24-7 prayer's 'Approaching God' Advent calendar, click here. You really should check out the brilliant video from the 24-7 guys in Macedonia.
LOVE that story. Beautiful and encouraging as I sit in a school reception waiting to see a young person I am working with who is suffering too. Tell angel her words have inspired me to believe in hope once again x
Posted by: Mark | Thursday, 13 January 2011 at 10:35 AM