Prayers with a 4 year old

My four year old asked me why we had a statue of Jesus' mother, but not Jesus.  Well that prompted me real quick to go out and get a beautiful Divine Mercy statue.  While praying for the first time in front of it she led the prayer like this:

Jesus, I hope we don't have any temptations and here is your invitation.  Amen.

I am pretty sure she was reciting the 'Our Father'.  I guess we'll be working on the 'Our Father' over Thanksgiving break!

Olivia has developed a real awareness of God over the past few weeks.  There is a lot of songs about how much she loves God, mixed in with songs about spooky Halloween.  A child's love for the Lord is just so pure and amazing.  Without knowing any of the theology or catechetics behind some of the most complex issues of the faith she just loves.  How hard it has become for me as an adult to remember to just LOVE the Lord.  Sometimes there are so many facets to the faith that I literally forget to become like a child and fall in love with our Creator.  I know Scripture references to the child-like-faith we are all to have and that the children will lead us to Heaven.  I truly never saw the meaning of this until now. 

I wonder at which point we decide to make our prayer life so complex?  The opportunity to pray comes in so many ways.  My little one is usually on a swing or sitting in the back of a car when she will break into song and ultimately 'pray'.  She is able to drift off into her own world of thought and prayer and even manages to make some rhymes.  (Usually hilarious and unrelated of course).

Leave it to a four year old to bring my faith back to the basics and to remind me that prayer is prompted by the Holy Spirit.  I pray that we are open to the Spirit as Christmas approaches and that prayer through song escapes our lips throughout the day.