A Child's Prayer

Jan 7, 2009
3 minutes read time

Our family traditions included giving our children gifts for the Feast of Tabernacles.

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One year, we presented one of our sons with a brand-new wallet and tucked inside was a crisp, new $20 bill. His little 4-year-old eyes lit up like we had handed him the whole world. Although it was a child-sized wallet, his little child-sized pockets were just not large enough for it. So he carried it around in his small hands. Once at our Feast site we had some time to spare and found an arcade. Our son began playing one of the games until it was time to leave for dinner and services. Later, as we sat down to a nice dinner, I noticed our son was beginning to cry. He had left his wallet at the arcade. We didn't have time before services to hunt for it, and the next day would be a Holy Day. We explained to him that we'd have to wait until after sundown to start our search. Although he was upset, he understood. We told him to pray about it, and he prayed harder than I have ever seen him pray. After his prayer he smiled, no longer upset. He explained that he had prayed about it, and after the Holy Day was over we would go get his wallet. We were amazed at his pure innocent faith. On the other hand, we knew that sometimes God teaches us lessons. We were preparing ourselves in case we had to explain to our son that sometimes God says, "No." In our own reasoning, it was a very busy arcade, the game was popular, and there would be hundreds of people coming and going before we could get back. We knew that the chance of someone else finding the wallet was very great, and we could only hope the person would have the courtesy to turn it in. The next day, he wanted to know what time we could go to get his wallet. It was as if he thought we would walk into the game room and his wallet would be waiting for him. How could we prepare him for the reality of the situation, without interfering with his faith? We couldn't. We just kept telling him to pray about it, and we prayed as well. At sundown, you would have found our family walking into that arcade, our son walking on air and his parents, holding their breath. On the floor of that very crowded arcade, beside one of the most popular games, in sight of hundreds of people, was his wallet. Yes, God heard the prayers of a child, and He answered. As his parents, we also realized God used it as a teaching moment, for two adults who lacked the faith of a child. I have often pictured an angel standing in front of that wallet, his duty being to guard it until a very special child came to collect on an answer to his prayer. UN
gifts
prayers
Children
Character
Youth

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Sherrie Giddens

As an author and writer, I find putting God into the words I share with others, allows me to use the gifts He has given me in a way that benefits others and points them to Him.

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