The Alphabet Prayer
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with man. Now the story goes...
A little shepherd boy was watching his sheep one Sunday morning and he heard the bells of the church ringing. And watching the people walk along the pasture where he was, he happened to think to himself, "I would like to communicate with God! But what could I say to God?"
He had never learned a prayer. So, on bended knee, he began to recite the alphabet. Repeating this prayer several times. A man passing by heard the boy's voice and peaked through the bushes. He saw the young boy kneeling with folded hands, eyes closed, repeating the alphabet.
He interrupted the boy, "What are you doing, my little one?" He asked the boy.
The boy replied, "I was praying, sir."
The man seemed surprised and said, "But why are you reciting the alphabet?"
The boy explained, "I don't know any prayers, sir. But I want God to take care of me and to help me care for my sheep. So, I thought, if I said the alphabet then God will put the letters together into words and He would know all that I want and what I should say."
The man smiled and said, "Bless your heart. God will hear you and He will understand exactly what you want to tell him." Then the man went on to church knowing that he had already witnessed the finest sermon he could possibly hear that day.
INSIGHT: Maybe if we thought like little children and let God put together the letters of our words --- what we should want and what we should pray for--- things would work out a lot better than we planned.
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (NIV)