I believe in listening to the Spirit as you offer an opening prayer in Sacrament meeting too, certainly, but please, be mindful of and have mercy on the children as you pray. I don't mean, ask for mercy for them, but rather you, yourself, show mercy to them by not trying to cover every possibility in one prayer and letting it go on and on and on for an inordinate length of time. Trust me, I speak from experience and know the pain an over-long prayer can inflict.
Just this past Sunday, little Forester was the victim of one such prayer. It should be noted that said prayer also affected the adults--I was squirming a bit and Justin actually fell asleep (which doesn't usually happen until a particularly droning talk begins). So, after this truly insanely long prayer, into a still hushed, post-prayer silence, Forester lets out this enormous sigh and says (quite audibly) Finally, as if it took all his 4-year old strength to keep his eyes closed for that long. I suppressed a giggle, but the woman behind us was not as successful in suppressing hers.
So please, follow the Spirit, but remember the children too.
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view." ~ Edward Abbey
3 comments:
well said!! prayers are not talks.
Eric's grandpa J will often draw birds. My favorite is when he doesn't say "amen" at the end, he doesn't want his name associated with that prayer ;) Besides, just think what kind of talk that person would have given, I'm sure that it would have been much longer.
Children are so honest. Just try to think what was going on in his thoughts during that prayer. So cute.
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