“In Jesus name Amen,” I said after blessing the food before lunch at kid’s summer camp. Suddenly a tiny voice piped up from one five-year-old girl asking,

 “Hey Pete, why do you take your hat off when you pray?”

I was taken aback, first, because I was amazed that she paid such close attention to my prayer, and second, because no one had ever asked me that before.

“Well,” I slowly cleared my throat in an attempt at gaining a moment to think, “It’s in the Bible. Men have to take off their hats, but not the ladies.”

Seeming to feel that was good enough, my five-year-old friend smiled and nodded and then began munching on her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She was satisfied, but her question got me asking myself, “Just why do I take my hat off, close my eyes, or bow my head when I pray?” Then I recalled that my mom had taught me to pray, “Bless us O Lord and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive. Amen.” Those were simple words, but they covered just about everything that God expects when we pray. In the book of Luke, Jesus tells a little story about how two men prayed.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Luke 18:10-12

Without even reading the rest of the story, we already know who Jesus wants us to be like. Maybe that Pharisee would have even prayed differently if he had just taken time to listen to himself. God also loves it when five-year-olds humbly ask honest questions about prayer, then respectfully listen to the answers, before munching on their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And Jesus loves it when we pray with the faith of a child, listen with their willingness to learn, and then gratefully receive those gifts that He has prepared for us to receive!