My friend JR Woodward regularly posts prayers on his blog. Usually we’re “Praying with Walter Brueggemann” or “Praying with Oscar Romero,” but today JR posted “Praying with a First Grader.”
I’m not sure what the context of this first-grader’s prayer was, but the innocence and honesty of it caught me up in its energy and I found myself praying the very same things as I read it.
Dear Jesus, help us all to love one another. We want to be friends, to play with each other, to hug each other, to go to each other’s houses. Help us not to be scared. Help the mean people to stop hurting others. Keep all people safe everywhere. We know you love all of us and want us to be nice to everyone everywhere. Help us all to get along. Amen.
I think praying with children is one of the highest privileges we have as followers of Jesus. We should take the opportunity whenever it presents itself.