When I was a little boy, I prayed the only prayer that I knew. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake. I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
I am not sure where I learned that prayer. Maybe I read it somewhere, but it stayed with me, and I prayed it often as a child. Jesus tells us that becoming as little children demonstrates His kingdom.
I came close to many accidents on the farm, hunting and playing, but I was always protected from harm, and I attribute it to this little prayer, the only prayer I knew.
Little prayers are effective.
Think of the Lord’s Prayer for its brevity; just 66 words covering all our needs.
Jesus even rebuked people for making long prayers when the motive was trying to impress others with their spirituality.
The Tax Collector simply prayed, “God, have mercy on me a sinner!”
The Leper simply prayed, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
The Thief on the cross simply prayed, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!”
Jesus cried out from His heart, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but thine be done.”
A pastor was driving to a church event when it started snowing and he found his car sliding toward the edge of an embankment. He prayed, “God help me.” Pastor immediately saw a white glowing man sitting in his passenger seat. Later, when he stopped at a road side rest area, a state trooper asked him how he had made it through that section of road. Of course the angel which had protected him from danger and harm was again invisible to the human eye.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego told the king, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Notice the voicing of certain words in their prayer:
- God is able to deliver us, (but He may not is implied)
- He will deliver us from your majesty’s hand
- If He does not deliver us we will never worship false gods instead of Him
The king saw four men inside the blazing furnace. The fourth man was Jesus Christ Himself protecting the three Hebrew children from the flames!
Simple prayers, simple words, coupled together with sincere humble submission to God’s awesome power to choose to answer us or not as a sinful human being, releases the power of God’s holy angels to minister in our lives.
Whether God delivers us from trouble or not, God’s angels are present ministering the Will of God. Isn’t that what we are taught by Jesus to pray for? “Thy will be done in my heart, in my loved ones hearts, in the hearts of 7+ billion people on earth as it is in heaven.”
“For prayer is a request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted.” C. S. Lewis
Billy Graham says, “When my time to die comes an angel will be there to comfort me. He will give me peace and joy even at the most critical hour, and usher me into the presence of God, and I will dwell with the Lord forever. Thank God for the ministry of His blessed angels.”