We pray as a family every evening before we put the kids to bed. It is an interesting time – we never know what the kids will pray for.
Charley, our 7-year-old, frequently prays for everyone everywhere to know Jesus. She truly has a missionary heart and I cannot wait to see what God does with her. Evon, our 4-year-old, on the other hand is more random. He has prayed for Larry Boy (Larry the Cucumber from Veggietales dressed up as a super hero) and the people in Iran. I have no idea where he got Iran. But he is right, they certainly need Jesus there. We thank God for sunshine and have even prayed for a birthday present or two.
Lately though Charley has had a phrase she has used frequently that has hit home with me and should probably be my prayer every day of my life. She prays, “and help us to love Jesus all the days of our lives.”
What a prayer.
To love Jesus all the days of our lives. This is not the “Oh, I think Jesus is sweet” kind of love. This is the verb love.
To love Him means to actively serve Him, to have a heart to please Him in everything I do – this is the love He desires from me. I certainly need help in this.
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)
He desires that I love Him and serve Him -all for my own good, because the God of the universe knows me and what is best for me. How could I not love Him? So my prayer today is that of my daughter’s: “Lord, help me to love Jesus all the days of my life.”
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