My oldest son, Ryan, was a freshman on his high school’s j.v. baseball team, and the team had an away game against a school that was located an hour and a half away. So, I made the drive to watch him play a game that ended in a 2-2 tie. The conference rule for j.v. games was that teams played six innings and then got one extra inning to decide a tie. If the score was still deadlocked after that seventh inning, it was time for the varsity teams to hit the field for warm ups.

Because it was a school night and the varsity team would be getting back home quite late, the j.v. players were allowed to ride home early with their parents. That meant that Ryan would be riding home with me and I would be responsible for getting him some supper. This is where Burger King comes into the story. After I had I ordered my usual Whopper with cheese and Ryan had ordered his usual chicken tenders, we sat down at a table. I had to get back up, though, because it was one of those “fill your own drink” places and I hadn’t filled mine yet.

When I returned from getting my drink, I saw that Ryan was praying. I figured he was offering his typical fast prayer over his fast food, but I soon noticed that the prayer seemed a touch more lengthy and intense than usual. Once he was finished praying, I took my seat across from him and just had to ask, “What were you praying?” Yes, that was nosy of me, but, hey, that’s how parents roll. Before Ryan answered, he gave a little grin as if he had been caught doing something off limits. Then he said, “I thanked God for the game. I thanked Him for the food. And I asked Him to have you let me get some dessert.”

You’d understand that request perfectly if you knew how passionate the boy was about his desserts. It was an ongoing issue that he always had to have dessert at a restaurant. While the extra expense was one thing, the extra time required to deal with dessert was another. Nevertheless, I almost always gave in and let him have dessert.  And, yes, that night he got his ice cream/brownie thing at Burger King. How could I possibly have refused him after he had melted my heart with such a sweet, simple, childlike request, one that he wasn’t even going to let me in on if I hadn’t asked?

Okay, so where am I going with this story? Well, as I sat there eating my Whopper that night, I couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be if we Christians could master the childlike faith of a boy asking God to lead his daddy to let him buy a dessert. What was it Jesus said?

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3-4, N.K.J.V.)

Tell me, Christian, how much of the pure, innocent, guileless faith of a child do you have left about you? I must confess that my level at this stage of my life isn’t as high as it once was. Unfortunately, as you get older, and as life runs you through some painful experiences, your childlike faith can take a real hit.

Then again, maybe I’m just not quite old enough yet. What I mean is, if I keep living, and if the aging process continues to systematically make me less and less self-sufficient, perhaps more of my childlike faith will return to me. That’s what I suspect will happen, anyway. Let’s face it, when you just can’t do for yourself, the Lord has to do for you, right?

This concept of having to be taken care of is one that we instinctively understand as children, but we unlearn it when we become adults. And that unlearning hurts us in regards to looking to God to meet our needs and believing that He is going to grant our requests that are in His will for our lives. Thinking about Ryan’s little prayer that night reminds me of all this. Now we’ll see if I can reclaim some of the childlike characteristics I have lost along the way.