Learning to Pray

5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6: 5-13

I am constantly in awe of the things that the girls learn through observation, but even more so, I am astounded by the things that seem to be put in their hearts by God. Today the girls and I were sitting on my bed and Emma said, "Mommy, I want to pray." SO I said "Okay, let's pray." So we folded our hands and closed our eyes and she said: "Dear God, thank you for the flowers and the trees and everything. Amen." That simple statement was so powerful. What is that saying about Out of the mouth of babes? I thought about all the times I have prayed and how I search for the right words and try so hard to say everything just the right way. And when I heard her prayer, I thought, "I know that God is similing right now!" But when you really think about it he just wants the same with us. He just wants simple dialog(I know for me and some of my "big word" friends this isn't the easiest concept). Sometimes we focus so hard on trying to find the right words that we lose the real meaning of what we want to say. Simple phrases or breaths of prayer like bless them, help me, praise you, are sweet to our Lord; and require hardly no thought or time on our behalf. But that constant dialog keeps us closer to God, more available to hear him speak and less likely to fall into the traps satan has set for us everywhere.

Side note: Please be in prayer for Ran and I. The past few days have really been a struggle. We are so proud that God has given Abigail such a strong will and determination, but it sure makes parenting her difficult. Pray that God will inspire us with the right methods for parenting her without breaking her spirit; and that he will continue to give us glimmers of improvement so that we do not become discouraged or frustrated.