Each week in Kids Life Preschool we pass out a coin to each child. We tell them that this is their offering to give back to Jesus. When we give to the church in return the church is able to help others. Jesus loves a cheerful giver! (2 Corinthians 9:7) Before we pass the bucket around we ask if anyone would like to pray over the offering. We always have several friends who raise their hand to pray so everyone gets a turn to pray out loud for the offering. One Sunday as a little friend was praying I heard Ellie praying out loud too. I almost tapped her on the shoulder to whisper for her to stop and wait her turn. Then I realized I was the one who needed to stop. I don’t believe that we were ever meant to be silent in prayer. Ellie was an active participant in prayer that morning. She wasn’t afraid to be heard. She was bold! She wasn’t just sitting there listening to the words coming out of her friends mouth but she was praying right along with her friend. She wasn’t being distracting either. Her friends were not bothered by her praying out loud. Her spiritual maturity amazes me! She was praying from her heart. What a lesson for all of us to learn. How many times have we stood quiet during prayer? I’m ashamed to say I have. I’ve had many moments when someone was praying that I wrote a to do list in my head, wondered what we were doing for lunch or thought about how I should have handled a situation earlier. Prayer is not the time for to do list and daily recaps. You might not pray out loud but you are praying along with everyone else! God can hear you when others can’t! Ellie challenged me that Sunday to never stand silent in prayer.
Shine4Him 