The following is one of my most treasured moments from month three:
On our second day in Juitapa (pronounced Who-Tee-Ah-Pah) my team, our contact and I sat in the park for about an hour to spend time praying for the neighborhood and the people who were at the park that day.
I sat down not knowing what to pray for specifically and I felt slightly awkward because of that. As I looked around the park I noticed a little boy no older than two years old was walking around under an archway on the other side of the park. I smiled as I watched him walking around, thinking about all the little guys I left back home and immediately said aloud to myself,
" Lord, bring that baby to me."
It was a stilly prayer that I laughed at as soon as I said it but honestly, I very much wanted it to be answered.
So I went back to praying the "real prayers" but I continued to keep an eye on the little boy. As I refocused and began praying for the neighborhood I noticed that the boy had begun walking toward me. My heart jumped.
"He's coming! He's coming! Shut up! He's coming!"
Oh, how excited my heart was. But that excitement was quickly replaced with disappointment when I realized he had come over to see his parents who were sitting not even 5 feet from me.
"Ugh, it was too good to be true. God doesn't answer silly prayers like that."
So again I went back to truly focusing on why I was really in the park and began praying "real prayers". But then something crazy happened. As I took a break between prayers to scan the park I noticed a little face looking at me. That little boy in his red t-shirt was starring right at me. I waved and smiled at him as I laughed at myself for how excited I had been just a few moments earlier. Not realizing what was about to happen.
My eyes seriously could not believe what they were witnessing. That little boy with a red t-shirt on began walking right over to me and sat himself down right next to me.
"What just happened? Did this just happen? There's no way! That wasn't even a real prayer. How cool! Thanks, God."
All of these thoughts began running through my mind and I could not stop smiling. That sweet little guy looked up at me and he had orange lines all over his tiny face from the orange marker he had in one of his hands. In the other hand he was carrying a drawing notebook with cartoon dinosaurs on the outside. He mumbled in his baby spanish (which is a million times harder to understand than normal spanish. & I'm sure that's true for any language when it is spoken by babies). He would color for a bit then would look up at me and babble then would return to coloring. This went on for a while until he offered me his marker allowing me to color in his notebook and we passed the marker back and forth making scribbles on different pages. During one of my turns with the marker I wrote "The Lord Loves You" ( In English ) praying that someone would one day read that and when they did it would be just what they needed in that moment; to know that they are loved by God.
I cannot tell you that little boy's name because I do not know what it is. I cannot show you what he looks like because I did not take a photo of him. I cannot tell you how old he is because when I asked him he just looked at me as if judging how poor my spanish is. I do not know how many brothers and sisters he has, where he lives, or how often he eats. But what I do know is that the Lord knows every last detail about his life and that the Lord does love him!
In that sweet moment in time I was reminded that our prayers are not silly to God. That this prayer is just as much real as the prayers I've prayed for healing in the hospitals, or the prayers I have prayed before speaking in front of an assembly full of students. God knows our hearts and he listens to us. But I have to believe. The enemy would love it if we all believed that our prayers were too silly to present to God because that thought can begin to grow, take root and after time we begin to think that all of our prayers are too silly or not important enough give to God. And when that happens we lose our main communication medium with the Lord. And as a result we feel distant from the Lord, we feel forgotten, we lose our direction and are not as senstitive to the spirit's leading in our lives. Our "little prayers", our "silly prayers" are just as importants as our "real prayers" becuase they still bring us before the feet of God. They allow us to talk with God, and share with him our thoughts and desires. And if we are comfortable enough to present the small things, over time we begin to fully believe that we can trust him with our heavier requests, hurts, thoughts, etc.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
