Sabbati-Blog Day 17: An Unexpected Answer to an Unexpected Prayer

A child’s first steps are the most difficult.  After that, walking comes easier.  Riding a bike gets better after you find out how to stop in an upright position.  Writing curriculum for a discipleship process gets easier once you get the first lesson written.  Well, I was still crashing and I needed to hit my stride… fast.

God knew that.

So, it’s Thursday and my wife works on Thursdays so I’m on kid duty.  Three boys off to school, one to day care and then off to the coffee shop to write.  It was a little crazy getting out of the house, but that’s pretty normal.  We’re driving to school and I feel the need to ask my boys to pray for me, that God would give me the the words to write.  So I ask my boys, oldest to youngest, “Josiah, will you pray for me?”  “Sure Daddy.”  “Daniel, will you pray for me today?”  “Ok, Daddy.”  “Elijah, how about you?” “Yes, yes, yes!”  “Ok, Samuel, will you pray for Daddy today?”  My 3 year old couldn’t wait.  “Dear Jesus, thank you for today.  Help Daddy with his writing and amen.”  We were amused and wondered aloud who would be the next to pray.  No one volunteered.

Soon we were at the school and the unloading of children commensed.  Suddenly, Samuel pipes up.  “Daddy we need to go home and get your wallet!” “No, child, of course I have my…”  It wasn’t there.  “Samuel, how did you know I didn’t have my wallet?”  “I lost my phone, you lost your wallet!”  (We gave him a toy phone for Christmas.)  How could Samuel have noticed my missing wallet?  It’s crazy getting out of the house, and my dresser is too tall for him to see my wallet there.  Then I thought of his prayer.  I was headed to the coffee shop to write, but without my wallet I would have had to double back home embarrassed and angry.  It would have thrown my whole morning off.  God had just answered the prayer of my little 3 year old.  Wow.

Home was on the way to daycare and there it was, right on my dresser.  I dropped Samuel off and headed to the coffee shop, bewildered and in awe.  By chance I met a good friend there and we chatted for a bit.  Then it was time to write.  I thanked God for answered prayer and got to it.  The words seemed to fall right out of me.  I spent the whole day there and after a lot of herbal tea, a draft of lesson one was finished.  Praise God.

I used to be such a skeptic when people told me stories like this.  I’m not so skeptical any more.  God does stuff like this.  The only one who prayed for me that day was my 3 year old.  I hadn’t even prayed.  I was going to wait until I got to the coffee shop.  My 3 year old hasn’t learned the art of promising to pray for people and promptly forgetting in our consuming sea of self-concerns.  Perhaps it’s an art we should forget.  I’ll give it a try.

Thank you God for children who show us childlike faith by just being who they are.  Teach us pray like Samuel did.  Thank you for the words you gave me that day, and for miraculously showing me to my wallet, through an unexpected answer to an unexpected prayer.  Amen.