The Power of Prayer from a Child's Perspective

The other day my 11-year-old grandson and I were talking about a variety of things and the subject of prayer came up.  I asked him if he thought he would make the Shrine Bowl (a football game where the best players in his age group from NC are selected to compete against the best players from SC).

His response:  "Not really because I knew I was competing against kids all over the state.  I thought I was good but maybe not better than some other players."

I asked him if he prayed about it.  He said he did.  I then asked him if he prayed everyday until he found out if he made the team.  He said, "No, I just prayed once to ask God to let me make the shrine bowl team."

I asked him why he only prayed once.  His response:  "Because that's all it takes.  God heard me the first time."

Now I have to tell you I was totally floored by his response!  They say out of the mouths of babes......

And then what did he do until he got the official word?  He continued to work on his skills. He joined the track team at school (reluctantly) to work on building his running game and endurance, He worked out with a youth football squad under a former coach.  His asked granddad to toss the football with him for arm strength.

I was reminded of this scripture in the Bible from James 2-18:

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

 His response was just what I needed. 

For those of you who do not know I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 1999.  (to read the back story follow this link:  https://babyboomerbev.blogspot.com/2017/10/18-years.html ) After my last physical (October 2017), I was convinced I was on the road to a full recovery, so much to the point that my doctor told me I could stop taking my heart medication.  But recently, I suffered a major relapse when I began experiencing shortness of breath and could barely walk from one room of my house to another.  An echocardiogram revealed my heart has weakened by nearly 50 percent of what it was a year ago. My ejection fraction went from 45 to 25 percent.  (An ejection fraction of 55 percent or higher is considered normal).

After spending three days in bed (and in constant prayer), I thought again about that scripture and it became my motivation to get out of bed and push myself to take action and not allow myself to succumb to the "woe is me" mentality.  Staying in bed and asking God for healing wasn't getting the job done.

What my grandson taught ME is prayer is powerful, but prayer alone and praying the same prayer over and over again won't change a thing until YOU show your faith by your works.

And just so you know, he DID make the Shrine Bowl!

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