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Listen while you read: "The Church's One Foundation"1
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Isaiah 6:5b – My eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. (NIV)
Psalm 47:6b-7a – Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth. (NIV)
In 1956, when I was eight years old, I had a little girlfriend I played with. We played dolls, school, and jump rope, but there are two things that I most remember about her. One was that we watched Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show at her house. Squealing, our little eight-year-old hearts stopped as we danced to the beautiful voice of the handsome idol.
The second memory was going to Bible School with her one humid summer night. I climbed up into the car and my friend and I giggled all the way, as little girls are prone to do, even in the dreadfully hot car. They led us to a stuffy room with other second graders who all sat on tiny coloured chairs with just the right-sized table for little kids. A pleasant lady, who patted my shoulder as she passed, handed me a piece of red construction paper and another piece of gray paper. They put the glue in the centre of the table, along with crayons, to copy what she wrote on the blackboard. These words would become the most important words that I had heard in my young life. For the first time, I learned that I could pray to God. The friendly teacher read from the Bible that Jesus' friends asked Him to teach them how to pray. I wondered why these men would ask Jesus this. Did they notice a difference in Jesus after He had talked to the God of heaven? "Teach Us to Pray" she had written on the board in perfect cursive, as the story unfolded from the worn Bible of the one who held it. "You and I, too, can talk to God," she said with such love in her voice. I glued the sheets together and cut lopsided lips to finish my masterpiece. I left that little room knowing that I could talk to God. The hot evening ended with a singing of "Jesus loves me", which also rang out as a testimony about this new friend I had found.
As soon as I could, I tried out this promise that they had given me that evening. Most of my prayers started like a letter. "Dear God," I would begin.
I guess that my faded piece of paper with "Teach Us to Pray" must by now be more than 65 years old — a genuine antique in anyone's book. The brittle, faded paper takes me back to the most important lesson that I ever learned.
It is funny in a way that my young heart was stopped by the King of Rock and Roll who sang "Love Me Tender" but my heart was blessed eternally by the King of kings Who loved me tenderly and taught me to pray.
What story can you tell about meeting the King of kings?
Prayer: Praise You, our dear God, for giving us that most wonderful gift of being able to talk to You. Amen.
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About the author:
Jeanie Nihiser <jnihiserj@gmail.com>
Geneseo, New York, USA
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Thank-you Jeannie!
Good memories, Jeanie.
Thank you Jeannie. I enjoyed your “Teach us to Pray” story.
Thank you, thank you. So inspirational and thought provoking.
What a great memory, Jeanie! And the message that came from it.
Thank you for that Jeannie. You took me back over 60 years. Well written.
Dear Jeanie Nihiser,
I loved your story! Made me smile.
Cheers,
(Ontario, Canada)
Jeanie – Your devotional draws me right into the action and I sense myself beside you as you take a step closer to our Lord. There is power in your story, and I thank you for it.
Many thanks Jeanie for your very sweet devotional of your younger years and it really took me down memory lane of my childhood Sunday School times.
Yes, our loving Jesus is truly our “King of Kings”. Blessings for your special writings.
Thanks for this sweet reminder, Jeanie. I also came to know Jesus as a seven-year-old at VBS at my little church in Washington state. Our teachers were visiting students from Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta. I was thrilled to meet one of them again many years later.
Jeanie, such a great memory and reflection for today! Isn’t it amazing how God uses little happenings to thread together a strong pull on our hearts to draw us into His love and to make us ready to open hearts to Him?
Thanks so much for writing this. Keep it up with your good words!
Good morning, Jeanie,
Thank you for this beautiful walk down memory lane for you!
I too remember as a child, a woman who was so loving and kind, teaching us kids about Jesus. It was a one day a week after school time that I always looked forward to.
God bless.
Hi Jeanie – thanks for sharing your memories from the past – they were precious! I too was brave at vacation Bible school when I was about your age and the leader, a return missionary, told us we could actually pray to God and we made our prayers up on the spot. That was the beginning of a close walk with God.
(ON)
Jeanie,
What a memory-filled devotional with a life-long impact. I am 86 now and my first memory of Sunday was being in the toddler nursery as my Dad and the other officers walked through the room going to worship. My Dad picked me up and carried me from one side to the other. My parents had been married several years before I was born and it was from them I learned to “talk” to the Lord. We moved from Illinois to a suburb of New York City when I was 6. At that church I so vividly remember the Sunday School Superintendent sitting at the front of this hall giving us instructions and then we would go to the rooms assigned to us that adjoined the hall. He tried to be welcoming but I did not love him like I did my Sunday School teacher….memories.
Thanks, Jeanie.
What a wonderful story and memory!! It always thrills my heart when I read things like this! I was raised by a Christian mum and a dad who, while never attending church with us, would load his car with kids and my mum and I and take us to Sunday School and Church! Then, with absolutely no complaint, pick us all up again, buy the kids a treat from Dairy Queen and drop each one off at their homes. I was one of the lucky ones. I always knew that I could approach the Creator of all things because He loved ME!! I’ve backslidden in my life, but never lost the knowledge that my Father loved me and was waiting for ME to find my way back. Now, I’m just an old sinner, saved by grace, and thanking my Father every day that He always kept His hand on me! I am so glad that you had that 8-year-old friend and that you had the opportunity to attend a summer Bible school.