Well… in the Weber household… we have four kids.
And I don’t know how we have 4 kids… but we do.
And we also have a minivan…
Why? Because we’re cool like that.
And when did this become my life?
I’m not sure.
But each night after my 4 yahoos…
have their PJs on and their teeth brushed… we pray.
And now… don’t picture four kids… praying…
quietly kneeling in a row… at the end of their bed.
Instead picture them praying… while playing with Legos…
hanging upside down…
constantly interrupting… each other…
and annoying the crap out… each other.
And I mean… when we pray… to put it lightly…
it’s complete chaos.
And yes, I’m a pastor…
and no, you can’t judge my family….
But often… I’ll start praying…
and then they… will audibly add things throughout the prayer.
And when they pray…
they thank God… for their stuffed animals….
And they pray for the sun to shine…
And they thank God for their mac-n-cheese…
And they pray for the owie… on their knee to go away.
And they pray for their sister… to not be so mean… anymore.
which usually… starts a fight.
And truth be told though… I’m never quite sure… of what they’re going to pray for…
but I know it will be… short, simple, and honest.
And they just say it… I mean, pray it.
And there’s no fluff…
And it’s not long and drawn out…
and they don’t beat around the bush.
And when they pray…
they don’t talk using a different voice or different words…
than they use elsewhere.
They just say what they feel… and they feel what they say.
Again it’s short. Simple. Honest.
**And when I say short…
it’s often… only one sentence long…. And sometimes just a few words.
Like they’ve never prayed a 4-point sermon.
And for them, there’s no certain length that makes a good prayer.
They just say what’s needed…
They just say what’s on their heart….
No one likes a long prayer.
And neither do they.
And I don’t want to speak for God,
but I’m just guessing he might feel the same way.
Kids... keep it short.
And they also… keep it simple.
Like… kids… they don’t pray in the King James Version.
Like they don’t use big, fancy words.
You don’t need a dictionary to understand…
what they’re trying to say.
And I mean… They’re not praying to be heard by others.
And they’re not praying to impress God… but to talk with him.
Jesus, help me to find someone to play with at recess.
And God, I’m not sure why I can’t see you.
And so kids keep it simple…
but they also keep it honest.
Like kids keep it real…
And they speak from the heart…
And they pray exactly… what they mean… not what they should.
Like… when they’re happy… they tell God.
And when they’re sad… they let him know.
And when they’re scared, they tell him why.
And when they want something… they ask him for it.
And when their butt hurts…
because they’re still learning how to properly wipe?
What do they pray?
God, help my butt to feel better.
Again… what they feel… is what they say.
There’s no filter. It’s honest
And now I just gotta say…
That all of this is great right… but they’re just kids…
And they’re so cute.
And they’re so innocent… and adorable…
And they’re so uneducated when it comes to God.
And they don’t even know…
I mean… in a few years, when they get older…
And when they know more,
Then… they’ll learn how to pray the “right way.”…
and for the “right things.”
Until then, their wrong prayers… are just… so sweet and innocent… right?
Actually… wrong.
You see… one point in the Bible…
The 12 disciples were chatting…
about which of them was the greatest.
About who was the best among them…
And when they couldn’t agree… they approached Jesus…
and they asked him their question.
“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Essentially they were asking…
“Hey Jesus… which one of us… is the most important?
Like which one of us… is the best?”
And what was Jesus’s response?
He didn’t ask one of the experienced fishermen to stand up…
And He didn’t ask an educated doctor to step forward…
And He didn’t look to a wise priest for his thoughts.
Instead, he called out to a young kid…
and He asked him to come over… and to sit by Him.
And what did Jesus say to the group?
He said, “Become like this little child.”
Wait… what was that Jesus?
Become like this little child…
Like a little kid?
You mean… we should have faith like a little kid?
And even pray like a kid?
Yup, become like this little kid.
Have faith like a child…
Pray like a kid does…
The disciples must have been shocked.
And so… what can we learn about Jesus…
and specifically about prayer from kids?
Everything.
Us adults… us grown ups…
can learn so much… from kids.
Like when it comes to prayer...
the fact… that we can keep it short.
And just to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with long prayers….
The point is… they’re not required to be long.
Like they’re not better prayers… because they’re long.
And we shouldn’t randomly add words….
just so our prayers are a certain length.
I mean… you don’t need to pad your prayers…
like you did in 8th grade… on a book report.
Any college students know what I’m saying?
There’s no need to ramble…
God just wants to hear from us…
And when talking with God… the same thing is true…
It can be short... and maybe it’s…
just… God, I just thank you for this beautiful morning…
You’re an awesome Creator.
Or Jesus, please fill me with your patience and joy…
And I’m just grateful that you’re with me.
Or Lord, please give me the words…
to speak to my friend who’s hurting.
And you see… the truth is…
whether our words are few… or they’re many…
our God… He just loves hearing from us throughout the day…
He just longs… to be a part of things with us…
And like a parent, He’d much rather hear a quick “hello” from us…
than nothing at all.
And to this day… often times…
when I call my own parents…
whether we talk for 3 minutes or a half hour…
My parents… will often put me on speakerphone…
so that they can both hear me… at the same time…
And we talk about the kids.
And we talk about their day and mine.
And at some point in almost every conversation…
even though I’m now 34 years old…
Most times they say something like…
“We always just love when you call, Adam.
And we’re just so glad that you did.
And we just love talking with you.
And it’s so crazy… but when it comes to prayer…
I think so often… we feel guilty… because we don’t pray enough…
And we just feel bad… because we don’t pray more…
And because we feel guilty… what do we do?
We pray… even less.
Because God’s probably upset with us… right?
And He’s probably angry at us…
When the truth is… He’s just so excited…
And overjoyed…
when we do speak with Him.
He’s just waiting… to talk with us.
He’s not angry… instead He’s just eager…
to talk with us.
“I’m just so excited to hear from my son…
I’m just so excited to hear from my daughter.
Again… like kids… when it comes to prayer… what can we learn?
We can keep it short…
And we can also… keep it simple.
And this is so important to mention…
Why? Because as human beings…
we love to make things more difficult than they need to be… don’t we?
I mean… we can take something so simple…
And yet… make it… so complex.
And as humans… we also feel the constant urge… to impress others…
by looking and sounding better than we really are.
And have you ever seen this in a friend or coworker?
Depending on who they’re with…
They talk and act like a completely different person. And it’s actually kinda of annoying… isn’t it?
And it makes you think less of the person.
Yet we do the same exact thing with God.
Hear this again… we do not need to impress God.
He just wants to be with us….
The real us… not some weird version of who we are…
We don’t need to try… and sound all prim and proper.
And we don’t have to use strange religious words.
We don’t need to worry about saying the wrong thing.
We don’t need to make it complicated…
Just talk with him. We can’t mess it up!
My best advice on prayer: is just saying… exactly what’s inside us.
Don’t edit our words.
Say exactly whatever we’re feeling...
and direct the words to God.
Tell God in a few words… but don’t hesitate to ramble either.
Just let the words come out.
Jesus, I love you. That’s all…. I just wanted to say I love you.
And Lord, I feel stupid…. I made a mistake. Please forgive me.
And Father, I’m not sure what decision I’m supposed to make…
would you please help me?
Again… Jesus isn’t looking for a show.
He’s not looking to be amazed by our words…
He isn’t looking to be impressed by our knowledge
or our extravagant prayers.
Jesus actually called this out…
when people wanted attention… by praying to be heard.
More than anything, God…
He just wants… to talk with us. Keep it simple.
And so we can keep it short… and we can keep it simple….
And when it comes to prayer… like kids…we can also keep it honest.
And when it comes to being honest with God…
I just wonder how many times…
I’ve prayed what I thought I should say…
or what I thought… that God want to hear…
Rather than what I was actually feeling and wanting to say.
Have you ever been there?
It’s like… I tell God that I’m thankful… when I’m really upset.
Or that I’m grateful for his peace… when I don’t have any.
And just to be candid…That’s called lying!
One of my favorite psalms in the Bible though…
is also one that’s a bit scary… to think about.
In Psalm 139… David talks about how God sees everything… that we say and do.
and in this psalm… David says this:
He says… Before a word is on my tongue…
you know it completely, O Lord.
Seriously though… isn’t that a beautiful and terrifying thing… to know about God?
He knows… and He hears everything….
Even the words we haven’t spoken?
But in knowing this though… if God knows the truth…
and He sees all that’s within us… why would we keep it in?
I mean, why wouldn’t we be honest… with God?
And David… He knew this truth well…
And as you read through the psalms…
At times it almost seems… like David’s completely lost his mind.
Like he’s happy one second… and he’s mad the next.
And He questions God constantly.
And David is raw… and he doesn’t hold anything back… like nothing.
And just as with David though…
God sees everything in us…. in you and me.
He sees all the unspoken words within us.
And so again… why wouldn’t we be honest… with God?
And for me personally… I’ve shared quite a bit about my dad… and his health…
But for the past 7 years… he’s struggled with severe pain…
that has really altered his life.
But I have to be honest…
I was really struggled with things… when it came to God.
Just with some honest questions… like my dad is such a good man…
And he’s faithfully followed the Lord…
And I just didn’t understand…
And over the first couple of years… I had definitely prayed for my dad…
But I hadn’t been honest… at all… with God about things…
And how I was really feeling…
And really… I had some growing bitterness toward God as well.
Ya know… I just didn’t understand.
And it was starting to impact my relationship with God.
And one night when I was driving… I just knew I had to say something…
And as I was driving that night… it just came out…
And I just said it… “God, I want you to heal my dad…
and I don’t know why you haven’t.
and I just started crying…
And in the moment… it was honestly… like God responded with:
“Well… finally Adam…
finally… you’re bringing this to me.
I knew it was bothering you…
I knew you were hurting…
Thank you for finally… acknowledging the elephant in the room.
Thank you for finally saying something…
And have you ever had… this happen…
with a close friend… or maybe your spouse…
a time… where’s there’s just this unspoken elephant that shows up…
and if you don’t talk about it…
it slowly breaks the relationship…
Well… this same thing… can happen with God.
But that night… when I finally was honest with God…
it ended up being… a huge breakthrough in my prayer life…
and my relationship with Jesus.
Just being upfront with God… and how I was feeling…
Just saying what was on my heart…
Just acknowledging the elephant between us…
And really… just trusting Him… with what I was feeling…
Again… in that moment…
I was finally… being honest… with God.
And now similar to last week…. at all of our campuses today…
as you came in… you should have been given one of these cards here.
And if you’d just wanna take that out… right now…
I would just love to have you write on it… as we speak…
And similar… but different from last week…
I just wanna have us… answer the question:
What do you need to say to God?
What do you need to say to Him?
I mean… Good, bad, or otherwise…
is there something that we’ve wanted to say to God… but haven’t?
Or is there any elephants between us and God…
that we need to acknowledge?
Again… similar… but different from last week…
Today… I just wonder if there’s something honest… and raw…
that we need to say… or ask God… ourselves?
Or maybe it’s something we need to confess to God.
Again… good, bad, or otherwise…
is there something we need to say.
Once more though… at all of our campuses….
I’d just encourage us… to just to take a second right now…
and write it down…
(Stack of CARDS!)
And maybe for you…
today… you need to write down the words…
God, I’m angry at you.
For letting my mom die…
For my kid… my nephew…
getting sick.
For us losing our baby…
For our miscarriage.
For the fact that I’m still single…
That we can’t get pregnant…
For letting me… get hurt like I did.
For my screwed up childhood…
For all the crap I’ve gone through…
God, will I ever catch a break?
Or on the flip side of that…. maybe it’s asking God something…
God, will you heal my mom….
Will you help us get pregnant…
Will you help me get a job…
Will you heal my marriage…
Will you provide for me…
Will you answer my prayer…
But even if you don’t…
will you still help me to trust you.
Or maybe it’s admitting something to God…
And so you need to write down the words:
I’m addicted.
I’m struggled with porn.
With drinking… with gambling.
With depression…
With jealousy…
Or I’m cheating on my spouse…
And more than just admitting it…
I’m sick of being this person…
Jesus… would you give me the courage…
to get help.
Or maybe it’s asking… and writing down the words…
Jesus… would you please change me.
Would you take away my pride.
Would you help me to fully love my spouse.
Would you help me to see… and treat people…
like you would.
Would you remove my insecurities…?
and would help me…
to find my worth in you.
Or maybe… writing down the words… God, I’m hurting.
From my divorce.
From being mistreated… or wronged…
Abused… or raped…
by people who said they loved me.
And Jesus I want to give my hurt…
and my pain…
and my bitterness… over to you.
Or like last week…
Maybe it’s just writing the words… God, I love you.
Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for your grace… and your joy.
Lord… without you…
I have… and I am… nothing.
Or Jesus… would you forgive me…
For sleeping around…
For gossiping about people…
For all the horrible things…
I’ve said and done.
And today… Lord… I just want to say…
and admit…
and give…
and acknowledge…
and trust you with all of it.
Lord… today…
I just want to be…
fully honest with you.
Going back to my kids though…
after my kids and I finish praying each night…
again it’s completely chaos…
But after we pray… we say I love yous…
And we hug each other…
And then… after I close the door to their bedroom…
they almost immediately… fall asleep…
without a care in the world.
Why? Because all of the cares that they did have…
They just handed over to Jesus… by praying.
But a couple of hours later though…
after hanging out
Bec and I get ready for bed ourselves…
We climb into our bed…
and before we go to sleep, we pray together as well.
But unlike the kids though… after we pray… I often lie awake thinking.
And I’m not just thinking…
But I’m tossing and turning and stressing…
about the exact things we just prayed for…
and so many other things that were left unsaid to God.
I mean… I look at my kids…
And my heart and ability to trust God is so much different than theirs.
I’m actually jealous.
One last time… when it comes to praying… and talking with God…
what can we learn from kids?
Pretty much everything… Keep it short, simple, and honest.
Let’s pray.
