He Already Knows That

My oldest daughter is sick. Yesterday her and Christi went to the doctor and got some good medicines to help her get better, but previous to that she had not slept through the night in about a week because she kept waking up hacking and coughing. This of course meant we had not slept either.

Anyway, she has not really been herself because she has been getting so little sleep. She has been lethargic and moping about. As a result of this we have not been reading our Bible and saying prayers at bedtime for the last several nights. Instead, we have just been getting in a WAR over her cough syrup and going to bed.

Until 2 evenings ago. On Sunday night she had been well medicated, and seemed to be feeling basically good so we went through our night time story, Bible, prayer ritual. We prayed that God would heal her among our other prayer items and when we had finished off she went to bed.

Last night, as we were praying again, we came to the part where I said, "God, please heal me" and waited for her to repeat. "Dad!!!!", She exclaimed back to me breaking the flow of the prayer, "He already knows that."

Oh, my heart was pierced. That simple faith, that simple child's understanding of what Christ says in Matthew 6:7-8 "When you pray, do not keep talking on and on the way ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him."

My daughter get's what I so often forget. God wants to be my strength, my provider, my shepherd. God wants to give me ALL things. God suffered, died, and in the ressurection allowed me to recieve adoption, sonship, and his eternal inheritance. I do not need to beg God for grace, because he wants to give me "all things" I do not need to hope for the crumbs of God's time, because I am his child. Matthew 7:9-11 "Suppose your son asks for bread. Which of you will give him a stone? Or suppose he asks for a fish. Which of you will give him a snake? Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

No matter what pain, no matter what struggle, no matter what obstacle I am facing when I come to God and ask, I do not come as a pauper requesting the mercy of a despot king, I come as a son asking his daddy for help, and I am reassured by knowing when it comes to my needs, "He already knows that!"

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us when we are weak. We don't know what we should pray for. But the Spirit himself prays for us. He prays with groans too deep for words.