"Dear Jesus, thank you for Mommy!  Thank you for Daddy!  Bye!"

With those few short words in his nightly prayers, I was reminded of something by my 2-1/2 year old son, Aidan Konnor.  Silence followed his short prayer as I lay holding him, his head on my arm, his breathing slowing into a slight snore, and there was a peace that filled our darkened bedroom and bed with warm covers.  It was stillness.  Silence.  No more words.  I lay there blessed as much as a father can be blessed holding his beautiful son who had reminded me of how prayer should be at times.

"Be still, and know that I am God ... "  Psalm 46:10

How many times do we rush into prayer, throw up our petitions and requests, and never take the time to worship God and praise Him for who He is?

So, there I lay. In the stillness of the night.  Words floating around in my head that really didn't need to be formulated into sentences.  Words that flew through my mind such as:  Fear!  Questions?  What if's?  What about ...?  You know what?  Did you know Lord?  I'm tired.  I'm concerned!  What will tomorrow bring? 

Just like that, I followed my little boys lead:  "Bye!"

That is when I thought how much we need to be still before God and just listen.  Wait for it!  Wait until all those questions and thoughts pass through and clear your mind.  Wait for it!  It is coming.  Finally.  The stillness of your mind.  Just what God has been waiting for.  A stillness we very rarely wait long enough to experience.

"You be Lord ... I'll be quiet!"

When we will stop treating God like He is a fast food resturant?  We fly through the drive-thru and pick up are our happy meal.  We eat on the run.  It does not take anything special on our part, we just throw our requests through the pick-up window and drive off.  Then, we spend an hour complaining about the poor service and food with no taste.

"Be still, and know that I am God."  I challenge you this day to try being quiet when you go to prayer.   Or, maybe you think your voice is more important to be heard than God's voice?

This is a lesson from a child praying a simple prayer, to a grown-up.  "You be Lord ... I'll be quiet!"