A prayer for courage to pray hard prayers by Maggie Meadows Cooper, read by Leah Martin.

Search me God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139 23 through 24.

Not long ago I asked my little list to pray before bed.

She hesitated for a minute, explaining she didn't know what to say.

My husband and I reassured her that praying is just talking to God and she could tell him

whatever was on her heart.

So off she went.

Dear Jesus, thank you for our good day, our family and our friends and help me sleep

good tonight.

Amen.

And that was that prayer checked.

But as I went to bed later that night I thought about that simple prayer and it occurred

to me that I may be doing my babies a disservice at times.

And here's why, prayer is a beautiful thing, a time for us to pour out our hearts and

listen for the Lord to speak to us in the most intimate way.

It's a time that doesn't need to be filled with big, high, gluten words to reach the

Lord's ears.

But I feel like sometimes we water it down to the same types of prayers and we model the

same for our children.

We pray general thanks, requests for healing, requests for protection, requests for personal

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