A pastor was talking to a young mother about her maternal responsibilities, and urged the duty of constant and believing prayer for the early conversion of her children. She assured him that it was her daily practice to carry her little ones in supplication to the throne of grace, and yet complained of a want of faith and of definiteness in asking for them the special blessing she so desired for them.
“Do you pray for each child separately and by name?” inquired the pastor.
“No, that has never been my habit,” was the reply.
“I think it of much importance, Mrs. H., especially as a help to our faith, and to the clearness and intensity of our desires on their behalf. You pray with them, I trust, as well as for them?”
“Sometimes I do, but not often. They seem a little restless and inclined to whisper together while my eyes are closed; and so I have felt less embarrassment and more freedom in supplication to be alone at such seasons.”
“Let me persuade you, dear Mrs. H., to try a different plan. Take your little son and daughter each separately to the place of prayer, and, kneeling with them before the Lord, tell Him the name, the daily history, the special want of each, and see if your heart is not opened to plead for them as you have never done before.”
Tears were in the eyes of the young mother, as she said with trembling lips,
“I’ll try.”
When the evening came she had not forgotten her promise, but as she saw that Sarah, her daughter, was unusually peevish, she thought best to take her little son first to her bedroom. Willie was a bright and pleasant boy of five years; and when his mother whispered her wish to pray with him, he gladly put his hand in hers and knelt by her side. As he heard his name mentioned before the Lord, a tender hush fell upon his young spirit, and he clasped his mother’s fingers more tightly as each petition for his special need was breathed into the ear of his Father in heaven. And did not the clinging of that little hand warm her heart to new and more fervent desire as she poured forth her supplication to the Hearer and Answerer of prayer?
When the mother and child rose from their knees, Willie’s face was like a rainbow, smiling through tears.
“Mamma, mamma,” said he, “I’m glad you told Jesus my name; now He’ll know me when I get to heaven. And when the kind angels that carry little children to the Saviour take me and lay me in His arms, Jesus will look at me so pleasant, and say,
`Why, this is Willie H.: his mother told Me about him: how happy I am to see you, Willie!’ Won’t that be nice, mamma?”
Mrs. H. never forgot that scene. And when she was permitted to see, not only her dear Willie and Sarah, but the children afterward added to her family circle, each successively confessing the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, she did indeed feel that the pastor’s way was the right way. So she resolved to recommend it to praying mothers, by telling them this touching incident.