This Child’s Prayer

Each night before I go to sleep for the past few months, one song seems to play in my mind over and over. It is a song I learned as a child in Primary at church. Primary is our gathering of children ages 4 to 11 after Sunday School. There were talks and mostly times for us to learn new songs. My favorite song has always been “A Child’s Prayer”. I can’t describe to you how beautiful it is.

In my mind, the first verse would always repeat…

“Heavenly Father, are You really there? And do You hear and answer every child’s prayer?”

It has been quite the past couple of years for me, and faith has taken a back seat in my life. It has never disappeared, though. I am grateful that my faith is at least strong enough to stick around. I think that the time before we go to sleep, we have quiet moments to be with the reality that often fills our lives. As I sang that line so often in my mind, I think I really wanted someone to answer and help me through the trials I face each day.

Strangely enough, the answer is found in the song. I just couldn’t move my mind to sing the other lines.

“Pray, he is there. Speak, he is listening. You are His child; His love now surrounds you.”

I picked up “It’s Not Easy Being Green”, a book full of quotes from Jim Henson and his characters. It so often references the child like tendencies that we all have – the innocence in all of us. Jim reminds me that inside, I’m just a child. I’m still a kid with big dreams. I still get excited over Legos. I still love to play outside. I still tell corny jokes, and they still make me laugh. I keep the lessons I learned as a child so close to my heart, and it burns whenever I think of the simple truth I’ve always known. Heavenly Father is there, and He does hear me. I knew it as small child; I know it now.