The Power of Prayer

While driving my son to his summer program this morning, my attention was taken from the road briefly by the silence on his side of the car. Normally, he is chattering away about any and everything, but this morning he was quiet. When I glanced at him, he sat with his head bowed and eyes closed. He appeared to be in prayer. He prayed to entire route to his school, which is about a seven minute drive. When I pulled to a stop outside of the school, he opened his eyes, smiled brightly at me and said, "Have a great day, mommie!!"

I did not ask him what he prayed for. We spent the weekend together; I mean, more than just our usual weekend which may be composed of the movies, the park, the zoo, whatever. I mean that we were TOGETHER. We were mostly at home, in the same space, engaged in the same activity. I have allowed too much distance to come between us and the anger and frustration is making that wedge even greater. It also struck me this weekend that we had stopped our habit of praying together at bedtime. So last night, while sitting on the couch, I wrapped my arms around my son and just started talking about our recent struggles. We talked about ways he can do better at school and explored how I might help him to do that. I owned my part of the problem, apologized and suggested that we do things differently from this point forward. I suggested that we resume our bedtime prayers, that when we wake in the morning, we hug and kiss and in the evenings, reflect on our days away from each other. He replied, "I think that's a great idea, mommie."

So, this morning he prays.

And his mommie prays, "Please God, grant my son the peace he needs today. You know his heart and his desires. Please give him the strength and the courage he will need to face his challenges. The devil is a liar; You said the victory is already won. These I ask, in the name of your son Jesus. Amen."