"But You Choose."

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At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
"Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
He called a child,
whom he put among them, and said,
"Truly I tell you,
unless you change and become like children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
(Matthew 18:1-4)

My tween daughter received a small, blank book as a gift. She decided it would be her "Journal for Prayer."

Oh, Lord, grant me the spirit of childlike faith like my child, who, in one of her most sorrowful moments, would write these prayers upon her heart about her beloved pet dying of cancer:

...Please let her live. She is like my own child to me. I'm not ready to lose her. To me she is more than a pet...If she is going to die of this cancer, please let her go in her sleep or another painless way. But, Lord, please don't let her die. Show Your mighty power and glory. But You choose. Amen.

Holy Spirit, enable me to set aside childishness...and embrace childlikeness. To open my heart and entrust my longings to You, to seek Your mercy, to ask for miracles from You. And always, to trust so simply as to be able to say, in any and all circumstances,

"But You choose."

Amen.
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