For those of you who are interested, I am working on Part 2 of the “What We Know about Work” series, but I had to share what my 3 1/2 year-old taught me about worship tonight….it’s a little long (shocker), but there’s a message in it for all of us.
Tonight, as I was tucking my son into bed, we read our stories, each talked about our day, and said our Bible verses. Then it was time to pray and my son asked a very insightful question, “Daddy, why do we pray?”
“Well,” I said, trying to think of something simple enough for a 3 1/2 year old to understand, but more substantial than the “talking to Jesus” answer I’ve given so many times before. “Praying is one of the ways we show God that we love him.” I felt a little complelled to make sure he understood, so I continued.
“Does daddy love you?” I asked him. He nodded. “How do you know?” I asked. He was quiet. “When daddy plays with you, does that make you feel like he loves you?” He nodded. “What about when daddy reads you books?” He nodded. “How about when daddy listens to you about your day and daddy tells you about his day?” He nodded. I wondered now if he was just nodding and not really thinking about it…I had to see.
“How can you show mommy and daddy that you love us?” I asked.
After thinking for a moment, he answered, “Draw pictures, play together, obey…” trailing off.
“What about telling mommy and daddy that you love us and helping with your baby sister?” He nodded again. Maybe he’s just too young to understand. I better just wrap up the lesson…
“See buddy,” I said, “praying is one of the ways we can show God that we love him. God likes for us to share with him about our day and to say ‘Thank you’ for all the things he has done in our lives. We can tell God we love Him when we pray.” I paused, trying to think of a way to get him to respond. “What are some other ways that you can show God that you love Him?” I asked.
“Hmmm,” he said, tapping his index finger on his chin, “I could make funny faces at God.”
Not sure how to respond, I asked, “Do you think God would like that?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smile, “I think funny faces would make God laugh.”
“I bet you’re right, son….I bet God would laugh if you made a funny face for him.”
“Daddy, let’s make funny faces for God right now.” So we did.
As I finished tucking him in and closed his door, I couldn’t help thinking how pure this worship was. My son thought of one thing he did really well: making funny faces. He does this with his baby sister all the time and she LOVES it, so he wanted to share that with God. Isn’t that really what worship is all about? Taking the things that God has given us and then offering them back to him? If only more of us sought to make God laugh by making funny faces….
Very cool Johnny. I can picture JJ doing that and picture God laughing with him. I wonder if the children that saw Jesus, when the disciples were shooing them away, made funny faces for Him while he sat with them. Faith like a child. Thanks for sharing it with us.