...and What They Taught Us About Prayer

“Nannie, there’s Papa!” I turned my head as we approached the stoplight and saw a red pickup truck beside my car. Driving my four-year old grandson, Taylor, to preschool, I said, “No, that’s not Papa. He’s already at work.”

Suddenly an idea came to me. “Taylor, let’s say a prayer for Papa every time we see a red truck.”  He smiled and said, “Okay.”

It wasn’t long before he shouted, “Nannie, I see one!” So I said, “God, bless Papa.” We quickly realized there were a lot of red trucks, in various shapes and sizes; we could hardly keep up! I tried to pray for something different each time another truck appeared; “God, bless Papa’s hands at work today.” “God, please don’t let Papa get a headache today,” and so on.

That afternoon, Taylor and I told my husband how we prayed for him that morning. He admitted, his work went pretty well that day, and he even felt better!

The next morning as we drove to preschool, Taylor soon said, “Nannie, there’s a red truck!”  So, I said, “Well, I guess we better say a prayer. God, please give Papa a surprise today!”

Taylor asked, “Can God do that?” I got excited and answered, “Oh, yes! He can do anything!”

My grandson said, “God is in your heart,” and I replied, “Yes, He is. Would you like for us to say a prayer for your daddy today?”  I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw him nod his head. “We need to think of something that will remind us to pray for him.” Since his dad drove a Jeep, we knew that vehicle would be an easy reminder.

Taylor then asked, “What about Mama?” The choice was easy.  I said, “Well, since she’s a teacher, let’s pray for her whenever we see a school bus!” He seemed to love that idea. As we got closer to town we saw several of them.

On the way to church that evening, we talked about our new prayer practice. My oldest grandson, Cody, must have felt left out because he asked, “What about me?”  When I asked what we should look for to pray for him, without hesitation he quickly shouted, “A motorcycle!”

By the end of the week, when Taylor called out, “There’s another red truck!” I prayed, “God, bless Papa’s feet today.”  Taylor picked it right up. “God, bless my feet, bless Daddy’s feet, bless Mama’s feet, and bless Cody’s feet.” This grandmother’s heart skipped a beat!  

When Taylor was only six months old, I often took him with me to our Ladies’ Tuesday Morning Prayer Time. They teased that someday he would be a “prayer warrior.”

We soon found reminders to pray for other family members and friends. One day, I suggested every time we saw an American Flag we should pray, “God, bless our troops.”  Taylor corrected me, “You mean soldiers.”

Taylor and I even prayed for each other.  My “praise color” is yellow, so he would say, “God bless Nannie” whenever we saw a yellow vehicle. As for Taylor, he would change his favorite color every week. I always asked him to tell me so I could say a special prayer for him.

My grandson and I discovered in the spring of 2012 a simple way to pray for our family in the car.

Little did we know that my husband would be diagnosed with cancer that summer. We believe God led us to pray for him months in advance in preparation for his diagnosis and radiation treatments. We praise Him for healing “granddaddy”, and we continue to thank God that Bobby is still cancer free.

My grandsons are growing up too fast, and now I enjoy picking them up after school.  I love asking them, “How was your day? “What did you have for lunch?” “What did you…Oh look a red truck! God bless Papa!”

•LR•

Marie Stevens is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She enjoys writing, journaling, and making her own greeting cards. She has designed a coloring book entitled “Red Trucks”.