The Secret Of A Seven Year Old

Hi Everyone, I am Larisa, I am a Counsellor by profession and a wife by calling. I will be a co-author on this website alongside my husband, Dave, in writing and sharing what the Lord has been investing and depositing in our hearts. Dave and I have always wanted to start a website of our own, we finally did it! I may not be as good of a writer as Dave is but I will try my best today.

In this blog, I wanted to talk about what I learnt about God through the voice of a child. One day during this week, I decided to go to church just to spend some time praying. While I was waiting for someone to come up and lead us all in prayer, a little child who was barely 7 years old came up to me and struck up a conversation. If you know me personally, you know that I am not a person that children naturally come up and talk to, but this time it felt different - it was as though God intended to teach me about His heart through a child.

I asked this little one how her day was and she started telling me about her experience - she was at school and all she wanted to do was to come home early because she knew her Uncle and Aunt who had visited her were at home. She wanted to go home and play with them. And so she prayed and sure enough, her school ended early that day.

At this point, I started to wonder…..God really does care about even these little things. As I continued my conversation with her, she began to tell me how God would answer all her prayers and that made me curious - how does she pray that it makes heaven stop and listen?! I asked her if she would teach me to pray like her so that I might have God answer my prayers as well. And so she began explaining it to me.

She would go into her room and silently tell God about her wants and desires but with conviction that would move your heart, she continued to say “But here is the secret - I don’t say Amen, because I don’t end my prayer by just asking once. I ask once, I give space of some time, and then I pray again, give some more space, I pray again until God answers my prayers”.

That secret is worth so much. I think that, as adults - we have lost the patience to keep contending for one thing - because how much more do we have to keep asking God? Does He not know by now, what my contention is about? After all, God knows the desire of our hearts before we even bring it in prayer. In Psalm 139:4 David tells God that He knows his every thought before he even speaks it out. Our God is a good God but that does not mean He does not want us to be passive in our contention.

Blessing, victories, breakthroughs - they often require contention. They require a level of knocking on the doors of heaven. I think a 7 year old understood this principle much better than us adults. She understood the value of praying without ceasing and how would God not listen to such a fervent prayer?

Matthew 7:9-11 "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

This verse shows us the heart of the Father, who gives to His children the finest of things because He is a good Father. But it’s important that we remember - we are children to this good Father, and when we come to Him - it is prudent that we come as children, in the same way that this 7 year old came to Him.