Max Lucado and Tim Keller have published new books on prayer that people are talking about. Proverbs 39 Ministries has almost 40,000 people worldwide signed up to study Max’s book online. No matter what else we talk about, our life group tends to ask questions about prayer and find a way to do it better. We’ve really ridden the horse hard—what are we not doing right? We also want to pray the “effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous person.”

After our heavy-duty conversation following a webinar by Max Lucado, we got a FB message from former ministry colleagues and permanent friends. They told us about their four-year old daughter and her concern about prayer.

“Landrie said she needs to go up in the sky to talk to God. I told her God can always hear you. She then said, ‘But he doesn’t say, ‘What Landrie?’ when I say his name.’ After trying to explain it the best I could, I finally just asked what did you need to tell him. She said, ‘I need to tell God that I got to be the leader at dance today.'”

Concern about prayer is covered pretty well for all of us by Landrie.

“But he doesn’t say, ‘What Landrie?’ when I say his name.”

Does God know my name? Does He care when I speak His? Is this a one or two-way conversation?

“I need to tell God that I got to be the leader at dance today.”

I don’t know how God will do it, but I want Him to whisper into that little girl’s heart: “I like the way you dance and you did a great job leading.”

I’ve never been selected to be leader at dance, but I’m smart enough to know how important it is to know that God takes pleasure in something that I do—He pays attention and sometimes says so His inner circle can hear, “Did you see that?”

Thanks Landrie for your wonderful dance and teaching us about prayer.

© 2014 D. Dean Benton   http://www.bentonministries.com/  Facebook—Dean Benton