Kids Bringing Me Back to Prayer

We have been trying to encourage Christian and Ava with their verbal prayer life. I think it is important that they feel comfortable praying out loud and speaking to God without us having to always do it with them.  It has been comical to say the least, but it is also very heart warming when you start to see them really conversing with the LORD as they do with us.  As a parent, it has been amazing to watch their prayer life (so formal and somewhat robotic at times) turn into a FRIENDSHIP and real RELATIONSHIP with JESUS.  Sometimes they just out right talk to God, and have real conversations, as though they were talking to a friend or a parent.  It is amazing to watch them get to this point.  Ava is a year older and has a slight advantage on grasping this, with age.  The other day, she was in our car and we were driving past our little Baby J's house heading to Bleppies house and she said, "mommy, lets take a moment and pray for Baby J and his family."  Then she started to pray out loud and it was the sweetest most sincere dialogue and it literally brought tears to my eyes.  Oh, Ava, if your heart stays as sincere and sweet and your love for others stays with you, you will be good in life.  Christian immediately followed her most sincere and sweet prayer with the following:
Dear God,
Thanks for Thomas so we can eat.. (this has been his prayer for a few weeks now. . . followed by some major giggling.) Finally we asked him why he kept saying that and he said, "remember, Ava said it and it was funny?" Ava then reminded us that months ago, in a silly moment she did in fact say that as her prayer and we must have all laughed.  Christian always has to put the funny comical twist on things, but don't be fooled, he is taking in all the prayers his sister does say, because when he is having a RARE serious moment, he does actually blow my mind with his prayer requests too.  I love when he prays for a friend or a grandparent or for daddy to get a deer.  He is the one that is constantly saying, "guys, we forgot to pray!" 

This past year of my life has been a little rough. I feel as though I am tired and worn out and I have to be completely honest. . .I have questioned prayer and if it really works more than I have any other time in my life.  The year has been a journey and the questions I have taken before he LORD are tough ones.  However, I grew up praying to God and conversing with him about EVERY detail and thought I had. I have always kind of had an ongoing conversation with God, and never really started with Dear God - Amen.  God is my best friend and though I sometimes feel hurt or sad at what He decides is best for me, I am finally at the realization that no matter what life brings me, as long as I am in His will for my life, I am going to be okay!!  I guess that is what my children have brought me back to. . .that child like faith that God wants us all to have and that they both possess.  Their sweet and open, honest, innocent prayers and conversations with God help remind me how simple it should be to keep God where he belongs in my life!!! So as I have been trying to teach them how to pray,  because I believe they need to know this in life, they have in turn reminded me of what prayer really should be in my life.  God is Good in so many ways!