My Soul Hungered; And I Kneeled Down Before My Maker

My kids have said some pretty funny things over the years, & lucky for them, I’ve written many of them down! So when I read D&C 68:25, “And they shall also teach their children to pray,” I had to find some of the prayers from the mouths of my babes:

“Please bless that [brother] won’t get punched in the face tomorrow.”

“Please bless the food, & please bless the monsters outside.”

"Please bless that Jesus didn't make any grinches cause they have stinky hearts."

“Please bless that [little toddler sister] will stop choking everyone.”

“Please bless that we won't kill anyone.”

“We're thankful that Jesus loves bad people AND he loves good people. Help me and [sister] to get along better. Help us to eat healthy. Amen."

“Bless that mommy will drive good."

Gotta love some of those child prayers! There have been some interesting (and semi-violent) ones! 

There have also been some incredibly beautiful, faith-filled prayers from my kids over the years.

I’ll never forget the day we told the kids about their uncle’s cancer diagnosis. We explained it as best as we could & told them he could use our prayers. A little later, I went to grab something from our food storage. There, in the middle of the basement, all alone, in the dark, was my 8-year-old son on his knees, praying for his daddy’s brother, his adored uncle.

All my kids uttered countless prayers for him. For two years. Until he passed away.

We had taught our kids about God in heaven. We taught them He loves us. We taught them to pray to Him.

But it seemed those prayers went unanswered. 

My kids mourned. Saw their dad mourn. We all mourned.

Then what? We turned to God. AGAIN. And found the ONLY kind of peace that heals hearts- PEACE IN CHRIST.

The hard things make Him MORE real to me. Not less.

The kids saw this. THEY FELT IT, TOO.

They have sweet testimonies of the resurrection! Of eternal families! Of Christ’s power.

So yes, I will keep teaching my kids to pray. To trust God’s will. To see the big picture. To feel the divine. To hunger for it!!!

“And my soul hungered; & I kneeled down before my Maker, & I cried unto him in mighty prayer” (Enos 1:4)

To be filled.