Last week i was reading a book with my 6yr old, i think it was called, THE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF VIRTUES... and it had a nice little thing about how George Washington was fighting a losing cause early in the war. GW goes out to pray and some fellow overheard his prayers and returned home to his wife and said:
The colonists will win the war. I have just heard George Washington praying and God will answer his prayers because he is so brave. Now, I love George Washington... and i'm glad (and proud) to be an American... but i couldn't let that go. I asked: Do you think God answers his prayers because he was brave? Why would God listen to anyone? I recommended Jesus to my son as his (and his dad's!) only hope, but not very eloquently. Well, here is what I should have told my son:
“It is the gospel that makes prayer possible. Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant, by whom justification and sanctification are promised, is also the Mediator who makes your prayers accepted by the Father (Hebrews 4:15-16). The Holy Spirit, who gives you the new birth, who unites you to Christ, who sanctifies you, and who shows you the things of Christ, is a Spirit of prayer (Zechariah 12:10, Galatians 4:6). He is like a fire inflaming your soul, and He makes you mount upward in prayer to God. Prayerless people are dead to God('s goodness and power).”
--Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification
