The Prayer of a Brave Child

I asked a nine-year-old kid in my church to tell me what he thought about my prayers for children, and this is the note that he made in the margin next to the prayer itself.

I’ve written four prayers for kids that will get included in the InterVarsity Press book that Phaedra and I are publishing in the spring of 2024.

One is a Morning Prayer.

One is a Prayer For Waking Up On the Wrong Side of the Bed.

Two are Nighttime Prayers: “For Regular Bedtime” and “For Anxious Children at Bedtime."

They're prayers that my kids felt the need for, and eventually I figured that other kids might need them too.

But I absolutely love what this kid, whom I teach in Sunday School, said. It’s so wonderfully frank.

My son, Sebastian, has been struggling with fear at night. Like most kids, he's afraid of the dark and of the things that go bump in the dark.

We've put a nightlight in his room. We sing to him the "Aaronic" blessing at bedtime. We remind him repeatedly that God can take good care of him while he sleeps and dreams.

But recently he asked us if he too could have an icon above his bed, like his sister did.

It's an icon of the two archangels, Michael and Gabriel, which we bought from the monks at Saint Isaac's Skete in rural Wisconsin (now sadly closed on account of the fact that they're all too old or dead).

Sebastian loves their swords and the color of their garments. I do too.

Before we gave him the gift, Phaedra quickly sketched an image of an angelic sword over the top of his bed with all its stuffies, blankies, trucks and LEGO's.

I love the juxtaposition of these things, of the miraculous and the mundane.

And we so love watching him develop his drawing abilities, including this amazing castle that he drew.

One of the worst things in the world is to be afraid in the middle of the night. I know what it feels like from firsthand experience. But perhaps a simple prayer might help to remind our anxious hearts and minds of things that are true: true about God, true about ourselves.

It might also be helpful to know that it's ok to admit that you're afraid—like Anson and Sebastian are—and to know that you're not alone.

If you too are afraid, I’ve included a prayer here just for you. And please do know: you really are not alone.