“Lord, please let me go to Kindergarten.” This was the bedtime prayer of my 5-year-old daughter every night for weeks. Yet we knew that when we had gone to register her, we’d found the program was full, and her name was far down on the waiting list. That didn’t stop her from praying in faith. About three weeks after school began, we got a call from the Kindergarten teacher telling us there had been several dropouts and there was, indeed, an opening! No wonder Jesus said we need to have faith like that of a child! Such is the faith of the little maid in Chapter 5 who served Naaman’s wife after having been captured by the Syrians. Her faith was unwavering and her testimony clear, and because of it her master went to see Elisha and sought healing from the God of Israel.
Contrast her faith with the unbelief of the King of Israel, who got stressed out and tore his robes when the Syrian King sent Naaman to him. He was overcome with fear that the Syrians would attack unless he could deliver healing for the commander of their army.
Naaman himself had doubts when he was told what to do to effect his healing. He couldn’t believe that bathing in an inferior river of Israel would do anything. Nevertheless, the admittedly weak faith of his servants convinced him to follow Elisha’s advice, and God healed him.
Humble, childlike faith is what God calls us to, but our adult fears often drown it out. My wife experienced this when on a mission trip to Cristo Salva. She was ministering to a woman who had a large tumor, and as a nurse her first thoughts were of the medical treatments needed, but unavailable in rural Honduras. She was reminded to pray with simple faith, and entrust the woman’s need to God. How many prayers are not even offered because of our lack of childlike faith?
O Lord, give us the faith of a little child to trust you!
Jim Jensen
