Like Sophie Prays

My Sophie girl turned six in September, but in some ways she is so much older than her years.

With the attitude of a teenager, this girl can stomp her foot, roll her eyes, cross her arms and "HUMPH!" with the best of them.

And then, she can turn on the charm, smile that pretty smile and talk you into just about anything.  She has about half the people she knows wrapped around her little finger. Including her parents. What can we say ...

... we are smitten.

Can ya blame us?

But, there is another way in which she just seems wise beyond her years.  And that is in the way she understands God.  She's always just had a very simple but intense faith. She lifts up a prayer like it takes no effort at all.

If we meet an ambulance on the road, she prays for whoever it is going to help. I don't even have to suggest it, I know she just will.

If she sees a pretty sky - a colorful sunset or sunrise - she will immediately stop and thank God for His artwork.

If she knows someone is hurting, she will pray for them every day without fail.

Her heart hurts for the homeless, the sick and the needy. And she has the heart of a warrior - a PRAYER warrior. A warrior that sees a need and takes it to the Lord. A heart that will not stop praying until the need is resolved ... and sometimes she continues anyway. Because "I think he still needs Jesus".

A year or so ago she was praying for Bob. Now, I do not know anyone that SHE knows named Bob - at least not anyone that I knew of in need of prayer. But she prayed on for him. At meals, at bed time, anytime she prayed, she asked God to be with Bob.  So, one day I asked her "Honey, who is Bob?"  She looked at me, thought about for a minute and said "I don't know!" But she kept on praying for him. For months.  And then one day she stopped.  After a few days with no prayers for Bob I asked if she had forgotten to pray for him. She looked at me with a big ol smile and said "oh, Bob is OK now!!!"  But, she still doesn't know who he is. And neither do we.

But God knows.

But, by far, the best thing about the way my little prayer warrior prays is that she does it KNOWING that He will answer.  She sometimes prays "God, please ...", but more often than not, she prays more like this: "God, thank You that You will ...."  She doesn't ask, she thanks Him in advance. Because she just knows He will.

I think that is AMAZING. She has no doubts, she just trusts.  And, we have prayed for people that have gone to Heaven - Uncle Ginger. Uncle Gary. Baby Sawyer. And, every time she has wept and just fallen apart in tears because "I didn't want him to die!"  And it has broken my heart to tell her that our prayers were not answered the way we wanted, but she just says "It's OK mom. Heaven is nice. God loves him!!!"  Because she just KNOWS.

So, I have decided. When I grow up ...

... I wanna pray like Sophie prays.

Amen.