“Faith and prayer both are invisible but they make impossible things possible.” – unknown
About a dozen years ago, a good friend told me a story about her son who was about seven or eight-years-old at the time. Their neighbor’s dog had gone missing and her son was worried. So they looked everywhere they could think of. When they didn’t find the dog, they went home and said a prayer for its safe return. By the next morning, the dog had returned home.
Shortly after, her son was worried about getting a new class seating assignment. He didn’t want to have to sit next to a particular kid. So he prayed about it before he went to bed.
When he came home from school the next day, his mom asked him about the seating arrangement. Did he have to sit next to the kid he didn’t want?
Her son answered, “Of course not. I prayed about it.”
Ah, the wisdom of kids.
I love the time talking with my kids right before bedtime. They snuggle in to bed, we talk about the highs and lows of the day, and if there is a nagging worry or hurt, it usually comes tumbling out.
Then we pray, I kiss them goodnight and turn off the light. Rarely does a worry persist to the morning. They turn it over to a Higher Power and then let it go.
Of course they have smaller worries – but they also have a good practice. One that I need to remember for myself.
We need to empty our cups before we fill them.
(featured photo from Pexels)
Surprised By Joy 
I wish it were true that good people, such as you and your children, could pray for the solution of problems or the safety and health of those they love, with certainty that their problems would then be solved.
I am fairly certain that you don’t believe we have the power to do that, Wynne, but the value of prayer and belief in a loving God I came to understand from some of my patients was a different thing, and clearly provided them with something otherwise absent in their lives. It also made them into better people.
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I find it interesting that Quantum Science is proving that our thoughts (prayers are thoughts too) have an effect on our environment. So, it stands to reason that deep faith will have a powerful effect.
No matter our belief system, it’s comforting to know that our thoughts and prayers do matter. Feeling confident of a good outcome is far better that living in fear and projecting that into our lives!
For the non-religious people: even saying “Good things are being worked out” can have a very positive effect on the mind, body and our lives.
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Some of the most astounding answers to prayer I’ve been blessed to witness in life Wynne have been those God granted to my children’s unencumbered belief and trust He would answer.
We’re that all my prayers were always offered up with the ‘unfiltered’ belief and trust of a child.
The desperate prayer of the father for his mute, possessed son in Mark 9:24 remains ever mine …
“Lord I believe; help my unbelief”
Keep Looking Up ^ … His Best is Yet to Come ‘
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Here’s to the regular refilling of carefully emptied cups.
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Amen Wynne!
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I was a worrier as a kid and the now I lay me down to sleep prayer certainly kept me from staying awake all night.
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Yes to emptying our cups before we refill them, in whatever way that might be. Happy spring, Wynne 💖.
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That really is uplifting and a great way of looking at it.
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a great practice. learning to let things go that we don’t have control over. hard to do at times, for all ages. I think most of us mull over things at night, and sometimes even lose sleep over them. such a good lesson, you’ve give them a great tool.
with my kids as they got older, I tried to teach them that even if wishing and/or praying, depending on your belief system, didn’t bring them their desired result, perhaps in time they might find the reason it didn’t turn out as they had hoped. it could a lesson they needed to learn, or something they never had thought of, but had turned out even better than what they had initially hoped for. this is another hard thing to learn, even for many adults.
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Thanks for sharing, Wynne. Two definitions to consider: 1. Faith: The steadfast conviction that what you cannot see shall come to pass. 2. Fear: The steadfast conviction that what you cannot see shall come to pass. Raise children in faith, and when the going gets tough (and it will), they shall not depart.
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This so touched my heart, Wynne. May we all endeavor to live in childlike faith!
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