Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

—1 John 2:28

This school year, my tenth, is almost over. (Hallelujah! I’m ready!) It’s genuinely been a wonderful year with a full cast of beautiful characters who I will miss dearly. One such character is a young man who, before being enrolled in my classroom, had been homeschooled and was somewhat behind his peers’ skill level. 

I began noticing early in the year that he was eager to ask questions—too many questions. So many questions that if I’d answered them, I would have completed his assignments for him. Clever strategy. But there was more to it than that. It wasn’t just a way to get me to do his work for him. He didn’t believe he could complete the assignments on his own.

My reaction was to quickly stop answering his questions. I pushed him (probably harder than he ever expected he would be). I made it a requirement that he give it a try before he could ask me anything. Only then would I tell him to bring his paper over to my desk and show me what he was unsure about.

A Confident Approach

It wasn’t too long before I began to notice something else. More than any of my other students, this young man had no qualms about interrupting me at my desk. 

For a little context, I keep a chair beside mine at my desk. It serves as a place for students to come sit and talk to me about what they need help with. 

Most students, especially at the beginning of the year, might only tiptoe up to my desk and cautiously clear their throat to get my attention before asking their question. But to this young man, it didn’t matter which admin had just stuck their head in to ask me to do something asap, or how busy I seemed, or how long they had left to work on their activity. He would confidently walk over to my desk, plop himself down, and say exactly what he wanted to say. And I’ve loved it.

I regularly tell my students that if I’m working on something at my desk, they are welcome and encouraged to interrupt me for anything—silly anecdote included—but it takes most of them several weeks to build up half the confidence in doing so that this young man has exhibited all year long. From very early in the year, he learned that he was always welcome to come to me. And by golly, he never shied away from doing so.

A Confident Approach to Prayer

Every time I think about those many visits, I can’t help but think that this is how our Heavenly Father wants us to approach Him. I am always happy when my students come to me. Doesn’t matter if it’s to tell me the instructions I explained seven times still don’t make sense, or if they want to tell me about their weekend. I always enjoy it when they are eager to come talk to me. But there is something special about the one who approaches with a level of confidence and trust that never questions if I will be interested in what he has to say. 

Just think about how that would look in prayer. Being confident and having such deep trust in the Father that we can talk to Him about anything. The original word translated as confidence, means outspokenness or freedom of speech. It actually paints the picture of staying so close to Him that we never feel the need to question whether He will welcome what we have to say or not. We can be absolute chatterboxes, and He’ll never get tired of it!

It doesn’t matter what it is. A fear. A need. A confession. A random thought about why He made platypuses that way. 

A doubt. A piece of Scripture you don’t understand. A complaint about that coworker that gets on your nerves (you might hear from the Holy Spirit about your attitude on that one, but He’s still there for it!) 

A brokenhearted wail. A situation you don’t know how to handle. A desperate plea. He is always ready to listen.

What I’ve Learned about Prayer

In the past, I’ve struggled with my prayer life. I’ve never felt like I was good at the normal sit down, close your eyes, and bow your head type of prayers. I would struggle to stay focused on praying. My mind would wander, or I’d fall asleep in the middle of a prayer, and I’d end up feeling like I failed at praying. 

But this year, this student has taught me that maybe coming to God with confidence, expressing even my most random thoughts at the most random times, is just as valid a way to pray as coming to Him through formal, structured prayer. And it might even make Him smile a little wider when we do.