It Is Finished: On Prayer and an Easter Lesson I Learned from my 4 Year Old

My 20 month old is obsessed with prayer. OK, maybe he’s just obsessed with holding hands and shouting the word, “Amen!” at the end but I like to tell myself my toddler-sized spiritual giant is so moved by prayer that he wants to engage in it 4 times daily. It’s been fun to watch my 4 year old lead her brother in prayers. The whole thing has caused us to stop more and slow down before a meal or in the car to offer up our requests to God when we might otherwise rush through this precious act of spiritual growth. One of the many ways Jesus draws us in through motherhood I believe.

My daughter often asks me to stop and pray for her. The teeny, tiny scrape on her arm or her upset tummy needs immediate attention, after all. Have you ever noticed that most kids don’t ask you to pray for those things over and over again? Sure, they may ask you to pray again but rarely do they come back, time and time again, offering the same desperate requests.

It is finished.

After praying over a small cut on her lip in the car the other day, we said “amen” and I clearly heard the Lord say, “It is finished!” As I pondered the phrase and asked God what he was trying to reveal to me, I realized this fact that most of the time, kids don’t ask and ask for us to pray over the same thing. While we might have a sick loved one or an ongoing health issue that we are bringing to God daily, the small, everyday acts of healing that they bring to the Father are usually left with him.

It is finished.

Through the years I’ve developed a desperate form of prayer that begs God to meet me where I am to do something for me. When I don’t see his answer I continue to beg, carrying the burden that prayer affords me to leave with him. The very work of the cross allows us to rest in knowing that once we offer a request to the Father, we can leave it there, trusting he will finish the work according to his will. We dishonor Jesus and what he did for us when we choose to desperately hold on to that which he offers to carry for us.

It is finished.

There are definitely prayers that seem to go unanswered for a period of time and that can understandably bring about impatience, fear, anxiety and frustration. But we don’t have to continue to throw our unanswered prayers in his face as if he missed it the first time. He hears, he sees, he takes and he holds – every request we bring to him. Once the words of prayer leave our lips – it is finished. We can leave it there and trust in his goodness and his ability. At times our human heart may become anxious thinking about an unanswered prayer. This is our opportunity to declare our belief that it is in his hands and it. is. finished. In those moments, we don’t have to desperately repeat our request, we must desperately confess our trust that he’s got it.

I am continuing to reflect on the purpose of prayer throughout this season of Easter, thanking God that the work Jesus did for us on the cross gives us direct access to him, the Father. Our sins, our struggles, our hopes and our most intimate requests were there with him as he offered his life for our sake. And as Jesus rose to life on the third day, God clearly showed that he is able to bring life to our bodies, our families, our finances, our dreams. . .

It is finished.

Do you struggle with leaving your requests with Jesus? What has God been revealing to you this season about the work Jesus did on the cross?

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