Pursuing New Perspectives on Prayer

A decade ago I wrote about my grandson Ammon, who had just turned two and had always been a cuddle-bug. He loved to be held. Unlike my older grandsons who would come for only a quick hug and kiss, then want to jump down and get on with life, Ammon would stay a long time in Grandma’s lap. One day I was holding him and reveling in his closeness. He pulled away a little, sat up straight and looked up at me with a look on his sweet baby face of pure unadulterated love and trust.

In that heart-stopping moment, I thought how Ammon’s expression would be the most appropriate one I could have when I look up to my Heavenly Father in prayer. When I pray I can imagine myself as a little child on Jesus’ lap, looking up into His face with that same pure love and trust, feeling absolute security and a thrill of joy at His presence.

When I can feel His nearness and love, am trusting Him completely and seeking His will, my prayers are very different from the desperate ones that focus on my will! In 1 John 5:14 we read, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.” I need to seek the Spirit always to know what to ask for, to know His will, to be willing to submit to it even when it is far different from what I think I want or need.

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