View Blog Entry

I learned how to pray on the night we brought our first baby home. We left the hospital just before dinner and opened the door to our small kitchen, full of family and neighbors waiting to meet our son. As they passed him around and enjoyed a hot meal, I nestled into the couch, filled with gratitude. As the night went on, family and friends slowly said their goodbyes and smiled knowingly at us, offering advice and kidding us about our sleep. 

As the house emptied, feelings of helplessness and fear enveloped me. My eyes filled with hot tears as I stumbled around the house in my new, weird body, moving the baby’s things around, wondering if I knew what to do with them. My mom left last, but not before she wiped down the kitchen counters. She reminded me that the Lord would be with us through the night. He wouldn’t sleep. I could talk to Him any time. 

I clung to that truth, and my prayers became full of worship, pleading, and surrender. I have my baby and mom to thank for introducing me to the heart of prayer—a heart defined by persistence, patience, trust, and praise. 

Much like everything we see Jesus do in the gospels, we have something to learn from the Savior praying. He frequently withdrew to talk to the Father. On one occasion, the disciples expressed curiosity about learning to pray as He did. They had come to reject the Pharisaical way of prayer, which was showy, shallow, ritualistic, and formal.

Jesus provided a different model. He showed how to pray with persistent boldness—to be confident that He hears and is faithful to provide. 

Nobody knows more than a mother what it’s like to love someone so much that you are attentive to their every need. When you doubt whether God hears you or wonder how to approach Him, remember His heart is full of love for the child who calls out to Him.