My granddaughter recently finished her bedtime prayer, “Oh, and Jesus, please say hi to great-grandma for me.” Simple, genuine, sweet, but more importantly, precious to God. I think of what our Lord taught:

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3)

“Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt. 19:14)

These are not just cute statements to pass over as we look for deeper theological truths. These are profound truths of the genuineness God desires from all of us. The same little girl also said to me, “Papa, how come when you pray, you start by clearing your throat and then lower your voice like you are in church?” Wow! Out of the mouths of babes comes a conviction from the Holy Spirit: Have I become old and stodgy? Have I lost a childlike relationship with the Lord, the telltale signs being the formality of my prayer life?

I remember when my son (the father of the girl above) was about three years old, praying, “Thank you, God, for the fence.” Puzzled, I asked him what that was all about. His response: the fence keeps the neighbors’ scary dogs away. Childlike faith!

My memory turns even further back to a scene some forty-five years ago; a group of us single young adults were driving home from church. As the driver, I stopped at each home or apartment to drop people off. One of the young men was developmentally challenged. When we dropped him off, someone called out, “Have a good day!” He replied, “I have to because God loves me!” Childlike faith.

At a Christian summer camp for college- and career-age young adults, we sat in a circle for morning prayer. In the cabin were about ten campers who had been believers for a long time, some since early childhood. But one was brand-new to the faith from the so-called “skid row” of Toronto. He was rough around the edges, but someone had seen genuine faith in this cast-off from the world and had paid his way to come to camp. We went around in a circle, each praying in turn. As the counselor, I began with the perfunctory camp prayer, “Dear Lord, thank you for this day …” and then went on with my requests. Each camper followed suit in one way or another, thanking God for the day. When the new believer’s turn came, it was clear he had never prayed publicly before, so he began to imitate the others, “Dear Lord, thank you for this day …” and abruptly stopped. I opened my eyes in time to see what was going on with him. He stopped to look out one cabin window and then another. Then he tightly closed his eyes and continued, “Yup, God, it’s a good day. Thanks.”  How precious was this to the Lord!

Lord, it’s a good day, for it’s the one You have made. Thanks!