This last week I attended a prayer meeting at our church. About a dozen of us were encircled in a small room crying out to God to “do His thing.” Truth be told, it was a pretty powerful experience. All things needed for a prevailing prayer meeting were present. Worship music…check. Lights faded…check. Voices raised…check. Faith for the impossible…check. For an hour we prayed, celebrated, informed, cried and believed. It was the veritable cornucopia of spiritual energy. And truth be told, I was feeling pretty good. I just knew that God was happy with our faith and even if our prayers might not all be on target he might just throw us a bone.

As our voices came to a collective end and our faith was returning to our regular coma status, my eight year old burst into the room. She has not yet learned “prayer etiquette” when entering a prayer meeting. If you’re not familiar with prayer etiquette, it goes something like this: 1) Open the door of the prayer room so slowly it looks like a ghost is opening it. 2) Tip-toe around people and crunch your nose because the low level carpet-noise your making is probably quenching the Spirit. 3) Most importantly, say “Amen” or “Hallelujah” under your breath so that you are in agreement with the prayers of these faithful saints.

So Sydney opens the door (Leaves it open too. That’s a no no) and with no reverential fanfare plops down next to me and snuggles her tiny body next to mine. In spite of the “interruption”, I loved it. She sat there quietly for 2-3 minutes and then leaned up to my ear and whispered loud enough for those sitting next to me to hear, “Daddy, you have blow pops in your office…can I have one?” I just laughed and nodded my head.

Of course, as she was haphazardly making her way out of our personal holy of holies, I knew God just taught me about real prayer. Without ever hearing the verse in Hebrews that says, “Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness…”, my daughter understood it better than most intercessors I know. She knew that her father (Daddy & Abba) loved her and all she had to do was ask him. Her request wasn’t grounded in manipulation or some relational power-play; she simply knew her position as daughter and capitalized on it.

What a wonderful truth as we seek God in prayer and set our hearts on Him as Father!