“HELLO LORD,

THIS IS YOUR FRIEND JAMES SPEAKING”

The Problem With Paul

Hello Lord,

This is your friend James speaking. I have to talk to you about a guy in my class called Paul. He is very irritating. He is always pushing other kids around. So I think you should do something about him - nothing serious like in the Old Testament days. I know you can destroy a whole city with lightning bolts and you made a whale swallow a guy. But maybe you could make Paul go to another school or stop his pocket money.

Thanks and Amen.

Hello Lord,

This is your friend James again. Okay, I spoke to mom and we read in the Bible - which is your rules - that I am supposed to forgive James and love him, but I don’t think this is possible. Did you really think that rule through?

Paul steals other kids lunches? How can you love that? So I’m asking you again. Please do something about Paul.

Oh yes, and thanks for making mom buy corn instead of Brussels sprouts. I know you made them, but they must be for other people, because I can’t stand them.

Thanks and Amen.

Hello Lord

This is James. Mom says you can see me all the time – when I’m bad and when I’m good – so I hope you’ll remember the part about when I helped that old lady who forgot her purse on the counter. No one else saw that.

Mom also says you made me and that you know me very well, so howcome I have to ask you this stuff? You know Paul? Well, today he copied my homework. I hope you wrote that one down Lord because nobody else saw that one either.

Thanks. Oh yes, I forgot. Please bless my teacher, Miss Blunt and help her to see when Paul is naughty.

That’s all. Amen.

                                                         

Hello Lord

This is your friend James. We have to get serious about this. I know that you answer all my other prayers about blessing mom and me and helping me to finish my sums and catch the ball the other day. But really, Paul is getting out of hand.

Today, he took the money I brought for lunch. I know I didn’t actually see him do it, but he was the one next to my bag. Lord, what are you going to do about Paul? Mom said I should tell him about you, so the other day in class, I stood up and told him that you were going to punish him and make him sorry for all the ugly things he has done.

Do you know what happened? He wasn’t even scared! He just laughed! He laughed at me and he laughed at you! He said, “There is no such thing as God.” Now I know you aren’t going to take that one lying down. I know you heard it, seeing as you hear everything, but I’m just reminding you.

Thanks again and Amen.

Hello Lord

James here. I feel really weird tonight. Mom told me the story about how the people laughed at you and said you weren’t God and they actually wanted you to die. I felt so awful inside. I thought they loved you. They said they did. And then they were so mean to you. I asked mom, “Didn’t God strike them down with fire and destroy the whole place like with bombs and stuff?”

And mom just said, No. You forgave them and you loved them. How could you Lord? You are my friend and I can’t forgive Paul for what he said about you. I’m sorry I am angry. Mom says it is hard to be different from other people sometimes. And boy is she right about that one!

Thanks and Amen.

P.S. I just want you to know that if I had been there, I wouldn’t have said ugly things to you. I don’t think any kid could have.

                                                        

Hello Lord

Me again - you know who. I just want you to know that I have thought really, really hard about the whole Paul thing.

Mom says some people – kids and big people – never really know what love is and that is why act so weird sometimes. So I thought about that too. And I tried to think, What if I was Paul and never knew about you? So then I told him.

It was really hard to tell someone so irritating – but I told him that I speak to you about him every night. And I told him that you love him. I thought he was going to hit me. But then he had a funny look on his face and he ran away.

From then on, he kind of avoided me. But that’s okay. At least I told him. It’s like a weight off my chest! And, oh yes, thanks for helping Miss Blunt in class. Sometimes she needs all the help she can get with our class.

Your friend, James. Amen.

Hello Lord

This is your friend James speaking. Sometimes I think you must get really tired of hearing everybody moan all the time and ask you for stuff. So tonight I wanted to tell you that you made a really good job of the moon and the stars and flowers and ice-cream was a really good idea too.

Oh, yes, I like fishing, so thanks for the fish and all the other animals. This place would be so boring if it was just people. Thanks for my mom and thanks for our food – even the vegetables.

Thanks for my bed and I want to give a message to those people that sleep on the floor or in cardboard boxes and don’t have homes. I am saving some of my pocket money and when I am big I will have enough to buy them a huge house to share. So just let them know for now.

Thanks and Amen.

Hello Lord

Something really weird happened today. Oh, yes, sorry, this is James. You remember Paul? Well today he came over and I thought he was going to grab something again, but instead he just sat down next to me and asked me about you.

It was so weird because I thought everyone knew about you, but mom was right, because Paul didn’t know anything – not even the really cool stories about the lady that turned into salt and the bread that fell out of the sky.

I didn’t know where to start. And then I remembered what mom said. She said, Always start by talking to you and then you can take it from there.

I’m glad we were in a quiet part of the playground, so we could pray without getting smacked in the face with a ball or something. So anyway, you know about Paul now. And you can take it from there.

Your friend, James.

Hello Lord

This is your friend James. I wanted to say thanks for friends tonight. And do you know what? It seems like Paul is turning into a friend. It’s just like one of your miracles that you did when you were on the earth. I think people don’t think that they happen anymore, but they obviously do.

Thanks for mom again and for our food tonight. Especially the cake. I didn’t expect cake. I said to mom, It’s not anyone’s birthday! And she just said it was because she was proud of me. She says it is hard to be brave.

So I wanted to say, I’m proud of you too, Lord. You were very brave. And thanks for being my best friend.

Forever and ever, Amen.