Prayerful Hearts of First Graders

As a Christian, prayer is a major part of my life. In the past several months it has become a more important and sweeter part of my life. I, as a first grade teacher, enjoy trying to teach my children how to pray. I love hearing them pray. I also love knowing that our Lord loves children and hears them.
Each day during Bible time, I have three different children come up to the front and pray. They each give a prayer request. Then, I "exchange" requests, so they pray for each other. Then, I have some pray for other requests, such as for our class to have a sweet spirit of unity and for unspoken requests that another teacher and I both have that are ongoing. I also encourage them before they pray for the requests they have, to thank the Lord for something He has given them. It is always a blessing to hear what they say. I love hearing them thank the Lord for their parents and for the Bible and, of course, their teacher (I'm a little bias!).
It is a blessing to hear them pray for something that I didn't remind them to pray for. For instance, months ago around Thanksgiving, I sprained both of my feet. My kids knew about it and prayed for me. Recently, one of them brought it up and prayed for it. It was a blessing! I also get a blessing when they remember to pray for our class to have a sweet spirit of unity without me reminding them. It is also neat to hear them pray for the unspoken requests that my teacher friend and I have when, again, I forget to ask them to pray for them. It really encourages my heart! God uses my little children to do that for me. What a blessing!
There is this one little girl who is especially a blessing to me. Isn't funny that a first grader can be a blessing and even a rebuke to an adult? Well, she is! When she prays, she prays for the poor people. She prays for the people of Haiti. She prays for this world to be a better place. Of course, she hears these things from home, but it is a blessing to me and a rebuke. I know it is sincere and not just words.
I know this post has been long, but it has been a lot of thoughts I've had lately on prayer. I am truly thankful that we, as Christians, can go before the Lord in prayer. We do not have to go to a priest on our behalf. We go before Him as "babes"-- as children knowing that He hears us. One of our first grade Bible verses are: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." Psalm 34: 15, 17. Those verses include first graders. What a blessing! I wanted to share some on what came "Out of the Mouth of Babes." This has been a blessing to me. I hope and pray it perhaps may be a blessing to you.