When I was very young, my mother bought a book published by Concordia Publishing Company (the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod’s publisher) called Little Visits with God, by Alan Hart Jahsmann and Martin Simon. A second volume, More Little Visits with God, followed in 1961, and my mother purchased that too. These books seem to have been extremely popular – they made it into many church libraries (including St. Timothy’s) and many Christian homes. I even remember spying a copy of the first volume on the desk of the “other” 2nd grade teacher at my primary school alma mater, Arch Street School in Perkasie, PA (I suspect she read it to her class, though I don’t know for sure).

Both books were a collection of devotionals, each of which began with an introductory Bible verse, continued with a brief story involving children, followed by “Questions to talk about,” a Bible reading for “grownups or older children,” and ended with a prayer. All of the elements of each devotional were beautifully coordinated, and the books were nicely illustrated with line drawings by Frances Hook. I’m not sure how many of the families who purchased the book used it regularly (our usage was occasional after an initial week or two of daily readings), but the concept behind the books was a good one: religious training is a partnership between parents and their church.

We baby boomers grew up in an era when parents instituted a regular, consistent bedtime, and families ate together. Even if we didn’t read Little Visits or listen to Bible stories on a daily basis, most of us said grace at mealtimes and offered bedtime prayers with our siblings before retiring for the night. We’ve discovered at St. Timothy that bedtime and mealtime prayers aren’t the norm for many of our families these days. Perhaps our tendency to eat on the run or sleep when we can squeeze it into our busy schedules contributes to this spiritual drought.

In response, our Christian Education emphasis this fall is prayer. Not only will we teach and encourage our Sunday School students to pray, but we’ll also get adults into the act. At our fall kick-off, God’s Work: Our Hands Sunday on September 11, we’ll issue everyone a 5 ½” x 8 ½” “prayer card” and a set of sticker with the days of the week. Everyone will be encouraged to pray during the coming week, guided by suggestions on the card (pray at meal time, pray for others, pray for peace, etc.). When you pray at bedtime, you’ll place the appropriate sticker on the space marked “I prayed at bedtime.” When stickers cover all the spaces on our cards, we’ll return them to church and display them on the glass walls of the sanctuary. You may place your name on the card, or it may remain anonymous. Either way, we’ll be reminded that we are a praying people, and that all enjoy “little visits with God.”

Later in the fall, we’ll be asking you to vote on your favorite prayers and give you an opportunity to learn new prayers. We’ll also enter into some new prayers ventures, perhaps a prayer pal arrangement between our kids and the children of Elect Saints Lutheran Church. God’s never silent: “the Word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). Let’s hold up our end of the conversation and pray!

In Jesus’ name,

Pastor Robert M. Mountenay