“Dear God, thank You for keeping us safe today, and thank You for this food,” Dylan prayed over his dinner one evening. “Thank You for giving me good parents and for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. You are so good to us, Lord. Please help tomorrow to be a good day too. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
“Amen,” Dylan’s family repeated before starting in on their evening meal.
That night at bedtime, when Dylan’s mom was tucking him in, he shrugged one shoulder and said, “Mom, I don’t want to pray tonight.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Mom asked, concerned.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Dylan said. “It’s just that every time I pray, I say the same things. I can’t think of anything new to pray about, and I’m sure God is tired of hearing the same boring old prayer night after night.”
“Oh, honey, that’s not true. God wants us to pray, no matter what we say. It’s all right to say the same things over and over,” mom said. “The important thing is to pray.”
Dylan shook his head. “I just don’t feel like repeating myself.”
Mom sighed and left the room, but a few minutes later she came back in. She sat on the edge of Dylan’s bed and said, “I love you, honey.”
Dylan smiled, already sleepy, and said, “I love you, too, Mom.”
Mom repeated the words three more times. By then Dylan was fully awake and giggling. “Why do you keep saying that to me?” he asked.
Instead of answering him, Mom said, “Thank you for helping with the dishes tonight.”
Dylan gave her a funny look. “You’re welcome.”
“You are a terrific kid, and I am so glad to be your mom,” she added.
Dylan smiled and hugged her. “Did you come back in here and wake me up just to say nice things to me?”
“Yes, I did. Why? Are you tired of hearing nice things?”
He shook his head. “No, I kinda like it.”
“Are you bored?”
Again Dylan shook his head. “No, I’m not bored.” He smiled and added, “You can keep going if you want to.”
Mom laughed. “So you like it when I say nice things to you?”
“Sure.”
“How do you think it makes God feel when we say nice things to Him?”
“I’m sure He likes it too.” Dylan thought for a minute, finally realizing the point Mom was making. “You think God likes my boring old prayer, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. I think it makes God feel good when we thank Him for what He gives us, even if we thank Him for those things every single day. God just enjoys it when we let Him know how much we appreciate Him.”
Dylan nodded. “So no prayer is boring to God.”
“That’s right. God just wants to hear from us.”
Dylan grabbed Mom’s hand and closed his eyes. “Dear God, thank You for my mom. I think I already said that today, but I know You won’t mind hearing it again.”
When he opened his eyes, Mom was smiling at him. “I liked hearing that prayer again too,” she said.
Dylan smiled back, glad that he’d made Mom feel good. More important, he knew that God was happy to listen to his prayers, no matter how “boring” they might be.
