JULIA'S PRAYER OF THANKS

(This gracEmail was written by my daughter, Melanie Simpson, and was inspired by my granddaughter, Julia, then age 3-1/2.)

As I listened to her pray, I found myself becoming more and more impatient. It is lunch time and Julia is taking her turn saying the prayer. In our family, we take turns. We each have a different style, unlike our night time family prayer which is the standard "Now I lay me down to sleep . . . ." Today, at lunch time, it is Julia's turn. Here is a sample of what we are hearing: "Thank you, God, for the tuna, the bread, the pickles, the chips, the milk, the pears, the apple pieces, the apple dip, the bread (yes, we already did that), the napkins, the plates . . . ."

She is fervent and sincere in her prayer, and it comes from her heart. It is a prayer of pure thanks. As she lists off the items for which we are thankful, I realize that she truly has the right idea. I frequently lead the prayer for our meal, and it is summed up within a matter of seconds. Though the length of the prayer is not important to God, the heart behind it is. I rarely think of how thankful I am for each item on the table, or even that we have a table to sit around. Many times my prayer at the table is merely the thing that must be done to get to the mashed potatoes.

I don't think that Julia is the only preschooler to pray this way. Perhaps this was one of the reasons Jesus loved the little children, and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matt. 19:14). Imagine what our lives would look like if we paid attention to the multitude of blessings the Lord has given us. I am not talking about winning the lottery. I mean the basics -- that we have life, the air that we breathe, our spiritual and physical freedoms, clothes that fit our bodies, a warm house, food to eat when we are hungry, the fact that we rarely even know what "hungry" means. We have a bed to sleep in at night, people in our lives who love us. My friends, we are RICH. The greatest gift, our salvation, has already been bought for us through Christ.

I remember a song that we sang frequently at church when I was growing up. As I hear Julia praying this afternoon, I am reminded of the words:

"When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost;
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
Count your blessings, see what God hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done."

Amen, Julia . . . let's eat!

For more on prayer, click here.