Pray-er with Posterity... and Prosperity?

"If this, then that," is part of language within the realms of Logic. However, even without studying Logic, your mind is subjected to its tenants. If I get milk at the store on the way home, then, the kids or posterity in my house will have cereal with milk in the morning. If I make dinner, then, my family will be fed...and happy!

I submit these fairly benign, and even innocent conclusions have disastrous consequences if applied to prayer... If I pray or if I pray with my kids (my posterity), then, there will be effects of spiritual prosperity for myself and my kids in my home...right?

It is as if, without realizing it, we cross the line of "if, then" syllogisms that are logical in the real world and use that thought calculation in our spiritual realities.

Matthew 10: 29-31

We tend to build our own prosperity ways of living into our spiritual habits. If I participate in this way with God it will demonstrate my piety, or it will further the effect of goodness and make my circumstances good. There is an earning way of thinking that tends to sneak into our spiritual choices.

Furthermore, we are modeling that way of thinking for our kids, which, is why I believe we lose our kids at a certain point. Without realizing how the prayer (and pray-er) comes across, we accidentally model that "praying will produce a product we like." They have seen the sleight of hand and discern it is not real.

Surely, I am not praying in order to earn something. Surely, I am praying to be close to God and that's it, right?

I submit we are not careful enough to root out ideas about what happens during and after prayer with our kids; we have a tendency to engage in the wrong way to consider prayer and prayer with kids. I believe we underestimate what God is doing during prayer with kids and overestimate expectations after prayer with kids!!

My reality has been as follows. The more present I become, the more I notice these present moments during and after the prayers with my kids, the more I feel things are really being held together by a gossamer thread of connection that Jesus is maintaining. That sort of precarity and vulnerability is hard for my scrupulous heart to accept, but I know deeply that is the reality He sustains. Jesus is so nice, and does not take over, not completely, not yet.

These prayer practices, and, the content presented here is NOT for you to feel that false feeling of doing something for God so He will do something for you, something you can expect in safe ways. Would you be willing to keep coming back to these practices of praying with your kids, even if you don't feel "anything is happening?" We, as family, are called to deep prayer. The fact you have kids along for the ride means your journey looks different than it would have if you took the journey to deepening prayer prior to the kiddo's arrival. However, this is the journey you have now... you have these tag-alongs that look up with wiggles, questions, and giggles as they travel to Jesus' Tree of Life WITH you.

These prayer practices are more like learning a habit that is healthy for your heart; I would argue these are the most healthy habits for you spiritual heart. Developing a skillset of prayer not only within your own heart but in cooperation with your kids, allows you to tap into His Beauty and Presence (on the regular days and the "Not-So-Great Days"). So, remember, we are about building habits, seeing patterns and tapping into His Eternal Now. We are NOT building the most perfect lives, kids, or expectations of what will happen in our future. As CS Lewis says... He is not safe, but He is good.