{"id":157,"date":"2011-10-28T08:21:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T12:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marydeturrispoust.com\/NSS\/2011\/10\/prayer-lessons-from-the-mouths-of-babes\/"},"modified":"2011-10-28T08:21:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-28T12:21:00","slug":"prayer-lessons-from-the-mouths-of-babes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/prayer-lessons-from-the-mouths-of-babes\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer lessons: From the mouths of babes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was saying bedtime prayers with 6-year-old Chiara the other night, when she stumbled over a line in the Our Father. Although she’s got the standards pretty much down pat at this point — Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be — every once in a while she switches a word, or looks at us quizzically when she comes upon something that’s just not in her first-grade vocabulary. Trespasses and temptation, for example.<\/p>\n

But on this particular night, the slip-up was something much more basic, and something that, oddly enough, caused me to reflect on how I pray the same prayer. So here’s how it went.<\/p>\n

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
MY kingdom come,
MY will be done…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whoa, there sweetie. That’s supposed to be THY, not MY. And then it hit me. How often do I say that very same prayer with the right words but the wrong spirit? How often do I really want MY will to be done, not God’s will. God’s will after all can be so, well, difficult to deal with, and He’s not always on the same page.<\/p>\n

So I learned something new about this old prayer and about myself. Every time I say the Our Father now, that line jumps out at me, and I stop for a second to think about whether I really mean what I’m saying. Am I willing to turn it all over to God, or do I say “thy will” while secretly thinking I’ll have it my way?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was saying bedtime prayers with 6-year-old Chiara the other night, when she stumbled over a line in the Our Father. 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