Child-like Faith

"People were bringing their little children to him to have him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, he was very angry and said, 'Let the children come to me and don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.'" - Mark 10:13-15

I spent most of the day yesterday getting followed around by the five-year old son of a good family friend. Since he was my tail for the day I took him to church with me and realized he didn't know how to pray, so I decided to teach him. "Speak to God as you speak to your father," I told him, "ask Him to bless and protect your parents and your brothers and sister,… you can also ask Him for whatever you want, including that toy motorcycle you keep talking about." The little boy nodded his head and we went along with our day. Hours later, around dinner time, he marches up to me, as if I had done something to him, and says, "Audrey! When is God going to start giving me all the things I asked Him for?!" I couldn't help but laugh as he looked up at me with an angry look on his face. Ahh, kids take everything so literal, I thought to myself,… but when it comes to the kingdom of God, shouldn't it be this way? If you look through most of Jesus' miracles in the gospel, you will notice one thing: whenever someone asked to be healed, Jesus would reply "As you have believed, so let it be." Most of the time, we don't get what we want and we don't see the fruits of our prayers because we simply don't believe God can make it work out for us. This is why Jesus told His disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to little children and those who are child-like, because they are the ones who really believe without any if's, and's, or but's attached to their faith! This is how we are to trust in our God, like children who take the Word of God at face value and just accept it. Jesus said that even a little bit of faith can move mountains, and I'm sure my little five-year old buddy will have his motorcycle in no time!

Today's Prayer:
Lord, take me back to when I was a child and trusted in You completely. Do away with the doubts and the mistrust so that all that I believe is that You are there for me. In Your Name we pray, amen.