Saturday, October 4, 2008

Sweet Prayers

I recently heard a prayer offered by a very humble child. If I were to ever be faced with the challenges this child had to face I would probably be very bitter. As I watched this child get down on his knees and fold his arms I was already very humbled. How often do we actually get on our knees when we talk to our Heavenly Father? It is often easier to say, "I am tired I can say my prayers while lying down in bed." We forget that it is our Heavenly Father we need to thank for the opportunity we have to lie in a bed and allow our bodies to feel the comfort it offers after a long day. His prayer almost brought be to tears due to his sincerity and simplicity. One thing I noticed was that he didn't ask for Heavenly Father to change his situation he just expressed gratitude for several things in his life. Things that I though he should be bitter over! I am glad I got to hear that innocent prayer because it helped me to better understand what is is meant when we are commanded to become like little children. Often we overlook things that we should be grateful for and concentrate on what could be better in our lives. I think I am going to try to become more childlike and focus on the things I have and try to forget about our things could be better. I will still try to constantly improve myself but I am not going to focus on the negative. I should indeed be grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father has abundantly poured upon me and continues to pour upon me. I think being childlike is really the key to happiness. How many of us can look back at when we were children and say we were miserable. When I look back at when I was younger I see a girl who enjoyed the simple things in life and didn't need a new car, a fancy piece of jewelry, and ipod, etc to make her happy. I just needed the simple things like five extra minutes to play with puppies as they licked my face and I felt wind blowing through my hair. It was the simple things like sleep overs with my sisters under "tents" we built using sheets, encyclopedias, and vents blowing up cool air that brought smiles to my face! If we can remember how to let the simple things in life bring us happiness once again our lives will be filled with incomprehensible joy. After all, "Life is to enjoyed, not just endured."

3 comments:

Renee and Jake said...

We were taught in stake conference back in February that it is a commandment to kneel when we pray, so we have made the effort to try to always do it. The girls are great to remind us if we slack. After all Aubree obviously picks up my slack a lot

Scottie said...

I've found that the most productive and spirit filled prayers are the ones where I don't ask for anything. You just thank Father for what you have, everything you can think of, and then watch all the extra blessings he pours out that you didn't even realize you were in need of. It's actually a pretty cool experiment to try! I highly recommend it!

And I know what you mean about the kids, too. Some of those kids are much stronger than most of us adults.

Sandra and Brent said...

Thanks for the reminder. We could all be a little better.