Persistence

This summer I'm trying to be more intentional about spending time in the Bible with my kids, and encouraging them to think and reflect on the stories. Please do not imagine a serene scene with my boys gathered at my feet, listening like angels and spewing innocence and wisdom. So far, it looks more like me attempting to wrangle them into one spot and passing back and forth (fighting over?) the Kindle so everyone can see the pictures.

For awhile I put this off -- I avoided trying "devotions" with the kids -- because it wasn't and wouldn't happen the way I imagined it in my head. If I couldn't do it well, I wasn't going to try it at all. Then, in a baptism class, as we were talking about what we're going to do at home to raise passionate followers of Jesus, someone wiser than me brought up the point that I still make my kids brush their teeth every day -- even when it's messy and inconvenient. I was convicted that doing something consistently sends deeper messages than doing it perfectly.

And so we are trying. And, here and there, we have a shining moment. But, it's also an exercise in patience and perseverance. I want to teach my kids to pay attention -- but even more, to pay attention to the right things.

Many times, the story ends with a call to action and asks the kids to examine their own lives. At our stages of development, this is mostly a chance for Caleb, who is six, to start the process of reflection and confession. A few nights ago, the story asked him to identify something hard for him right now, and to ask God for something good to come out of it. A light went on in his eyes, and he said, "Fighting with my brother." (And mom's heart soared -- maybe he does recognize how frustrating their constant bickering can be!)  And so, we prayed a simple prayer that God would help him with this.

Then, this week, a reading ending with asking him to "Think of some things that God wants you to do that are hard to obey. Ask God to help you."  He gave me an exasperated look and said, "Mom, we already prayed for that, and it didn't work."


I laughed, and explained that it helps to pray for things over and over -- I lectured that the more he prays about fighting with his brother, the more he'll be aware of chances to do the right thing, and that God doesn't always answer prayers instantaneously.  But I wondered later how often I lack the same persistence in my prayers. 


Caleb's expectation that a 30-second prayer would solve every conflict with his brother is about as silly as my expectation that our Bible story time would look like a Norman Rockwell painting after one month of practice. 

We live in a world of instant gratification, of emails answered in minutes, of immediate text messages. But God calls us to wait. To be still. To be persistent.  

Persistence

I've joined a group of women on a Bible reading plan through She Reads Truth. The scripture focus is on prayer right now, and in the reading this week I keep noticing that theme of persistence -- in Luke 18 those who had a persistent faith (vs. 8) are contrasted with those who were complacently pleased (vs. 9). I confess all the times I complacently pray familiar words with little meaning, or complacently worry without praying at all, instead of being persistent in my conversation with God, honest with the One who already knows it all. I confess the times I complain about my kids -- their fighting, their impatience, their attitudes -- and how seldom I pray for wisdom, for guidance in parenting. 


Like my son, I usually can identify what my problems are, but am often to slow to consistently talk to God about them -- to give the time and space needed to work on my heart.


Maybe my prayer for my kids should be the same for myself: to pay attention to the right things.  And I know this is one of those prayers I'll need to repeat over, and over, and over.