The Shiniest, Reddest Car

     There is a boy in my preschool class who has the same prayer request every single day. "The shiniest, reddest car!" When he says it, his whole face lights up into a huge smile. His favourite colour is red, and his family desperately needs a car. His parents tell me that at night, when they pray before bed, he doesn't let them pray for a new car, because he has taken it upon himself to pray for it.
     That boy is now away for three weeks, on a fundraising trip back in Seattle. So the past two days, he has not been at preschool. Yesterday, the other kids and I were sitting in our circle. I asked if anyone had any prayer requests. One little boy -the one from the community- raised his hand. "I want to pray for the shiniest, reddest car for Micah," he said.
     It just warmed my heart. That family needs this car, so the son prays for it every single day. And when he isn't around, the other kids pray for it for him. They know that his family needs the car, so they want that for them. It made me smile so much! They are thinking about each other, and about the other's needs.
     A new car is a big thing. It might seem like an impossibility for that family to get a new car, let alone a red one. They are missionaries. They live off of support, and sometimes, that can barely be enough to cover normal expenses, let alone a new car. So it can seem like an overwhelmingly impossible prayer. But those children fully believe that God can answer it. That boy faithfully prays for that car, and he believes that his prayers will be answered.
     Its that childlike faith. I know God can do it; I have seen him to bigger things than providing a car for a family. Yet at the same time, it can be so hard to believe that it actually will happen. Micah has been praying for this the entire preschool. Meaning this prayer has been going on since September, if not before. Yet he hasn't given up hope. He is persistent in prayer, not giving up because it hasn't happened yet. How often do we give up on a prayer because we have been praying it for a month, and nothing has happened? I feel like all too often, we think that God isn't going to answer simply because He didn't answer right away. Yet this five year old boy has been praying for the same thing every single day for the past five months, and he hasn't given up hope. He believes that God will answer his prayer! I want that kind of faith. Faith like the little children, just like Jesus said we need.
     Blessings,
          Katie