The faith in God which we observe in children is truly remarkable, and can be amusingly original. You may know the delightful story of a child's request to his mother one Sunday at bedtime: "Mummy," he said, "God must be really tired. He has been listening to thousands of people's prayers all day. Would it not be kind for us to leave out praying this evening and give Him a well deserved rest!" The lad showed a lovely confidence in his intimate friend God. He would be happy asserting that simple faith:
God is always near me,
Hearing what I say,
Knowing all my thoughts and deeds,
All my work and play,
What a lot we owe to little children! Their natural acceptance of God's fatherly love can teach us, and increase our confidence, Children would agree with the opening words of an old Collect: "O God who are more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve, "It conjures up a lovely picture of God that would appeal to a child. It is so definite, God likes little children, It is not surprising that Jesus made a point in taking a little child and setting him in the midst to be an example to the disciples.
We thank God for little children, They teach us of wonderful things . . . of humility . . . of trust . . . and of the readiness to love and forgive, In their originality and thoughtfulness they may pray for their sick pet rabbit in the same sentence as they pray for a respected aunt. Children are prone to pray out of circumstances of the moment. As they see an ambulance passing on its way to a hospital they pray for the sick.
Children contribute to happiness around them. (Little children!) It goes hard with us to think of any of them suffering through no fault of their own. We think of victims of war. . . of famine.
of mothers watching their children dying . . . of the injustice of child labour. . . of the children of broken homes. We think of the anguish of spirit of parents, who of course go on loving their offspring who have blotted their copy books. We often hear people in old age refer to a sadness in their early years. Imagination is needed when praying for children,
As we pray for parents and all involved in the care of the young we realise how much prayer support is needed, We are grateful for the large number of wonderful agencies of help, too numerous to list; those who have been inspired to provide an emergency telephone number for children to call - The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,
Special prayer of believers is invited for those young people who have wandered away from the fellowship of believers, Please note that Jesus was angry if anyone kept the children away from Him, and said: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of God,"