“…‘Why are you saying your ABCs so many times?’ I asked him. The child replied, ‘I’m saying my prayers.’ I couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Prayers? All I hear is the alphabet.’ Patiently the child explained, ‘Well, I don’t know all the words, so I give God the letters. God knows what I’m trying to say.’” ~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II. Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1, NIV
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.
All our lives people have taught us how to pray,
not to ignore the Third and Seventh Step prayers
and the Serenity Prayer.
So of course we know how to pray. Right?
So why does it feel awkward?
From the mouths of children.
apocryphal or not,
I don’t know all the words,
so I give God the letters.
God knows what I’m trying to say.
