Things Mama Taught Me: Ask Jesus

I don't remember praying, as a child, for a bicycle or a new coat or to have a friend. I just had confidence that these things would be provided in due time by my parents. But I learned early that there were some things they could not provide for us. For these I must pray for Jesus' help.

I remember an early lesson taught by example. My youngest brother was rather fearful that something would happen to our mother; she would die and leave him alone. He was a very small child, still in a crib in my parents' bedroom when I heard him say his bedtime prayers as my mother led him. "Now I lay me down to sleep—" then God bless Mama, God bless Daddy, and all the other God blesses he could think of.

"But Mama, what if you die?" I am not sure how he came to have this fear, but living on the farm, we learned early about life and death. It would not be hard to imagine the stiff coldness that happened to a bug or a kitten could also come to someone you loved and on whom you depended.

My mother explained very simply to him, "When your daddy was a little boy, he prayed that his mama would live until he was a grown-up man. And she did. You can ask Jesus for that too."

"God bless Mama. God bless Daddy." All the God blesses he could think of, and then at the end, "And help my Mama live until I get to be a big man. Amen."

And she did.

What happens if a child prays and the answer is "No"? The same thing, on an appropriate level, that happens when you or I pray and the answer is "No." We learn to accept that God is loving, fair, and above all, wise. We learn to trust Him more. We learn to ask with better understanding. We learn to wait and see. We learn to not quit asking.

MaryMartha

Art from www.wpclipart.com