A child’s prayer is simple, sweet and pure.

“Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

The debate on the power of prayer has been going on for centuries. Does it work? Does it not work?

In my 52 years I have seen some powerful things happen through prayer. There have also been times when my prayers seemingly go unanswered.

As adults, we have lost some of the sincerity and purity of a child’s prayer. We think because we pray “in Jesus name” and slap an Amen at the end, that God should give us what we want. If we don’t receive what we have asked for, we become discouraged and feel God may be ignoring us.

We must remember, however, that when we pray it is not “our will be done”, it is “thy (God’s) will be done.” Sometimes God’s will does not jive with our wish list. Sometimes we treat God as if He were a genie in a bottle; he jumps out gives us our three wishes and then retreats to the comforts of his domain.

The Bible says, “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.” Philippians 4:6-7.

In the movie “Where the Heart Is” after the tornado when Nova Lee is building her “dream home,” a song comes on and some of the words are: “Gonna’ shake my soul, And release my hold, Givin’ up control, And let the rest unfold. “’Cause it’s a long, long way from here to where we go.”

That is the attitude we should have when we pray. We shake our souls, pour out our needs to God and then let Him have control.

What a hard thing for us humans to comprehend. Often we feel like our hands should be in the mix somewhere, but when we truly pray and leave the answer to God, knowing His answer may not be what we wanted. It is then things begin to unflold. God knows best, so pray and leave it up to the Master.

That, in itself, is the hardest part of prayer.