Adventures in Listening

Last night I had a great time with my kids, putting them to bed and doing some listening prayer with them. I admit that it's something that I've not been terribly good at doing with them, but have been stirred recently to try and teach them about listening to Jesus. It's so much easier (at least in theory!) when they are young.
So Josiah was listening, but also being himself and goofing around a bit; I tried to be patient; after all, he's only 4!
At first, Josiah saw some snow falling and then described that he was at the north pole. I admit, my faith was stretched! He then saw lots of penguins, which stretched my faith more, as there are no penguins at the north pole. (only the south!) I hid my own doubts and soldiered on. "Let's ask Jesus where he is" I suggested. Without being led, Josiah did just that. Jesus was beside him and wearing a yellow outfit. "Why don't you ask Jesus why he's wearing yellow?" Quick response: "He says it's his favorite color!". I was pretty impressed. Maybe it's not deep theological revelation, but to a 4 yr. old, I think Jesus would want to talk about his favorite color. I think I'll wear something yellow to church on Sunday!
After a bit more with Josiah, I moved to Rebekah's room.
Rebekah's stomach wasn't feeling great, so Pam was giving her some medicine just as I came in.
Rebekah and I began to listen and I asked her what she saw.
Response: Her stomach.
At this point, my faith took a plunge. Her stomach? Please! It had to be her. Afterall, she'd just taken medicine. I clarified that she was actually seeing her stomach. Yes. Okay. I carried on. "What does it look like?" She used her finger to describe it and said there were tubes coming in and she should see the medicine coming into her stomach.
Jim: "Why don't you ask Jesus why he's showing you your stomach?"
Rebekah: "I see Jesus. He's in my stomach, near the tube where the medicine is coming in.'
(Jim's faith continues to flicker!)
Jim: "Why is Jesus in your stomach?"
Rebekah: "I think he's healing my stomach."
Jim: "REALLY?" (faith grows)
Rebekah: "There's shiny stuff coming from his hands."
Jim: (now very excited) "What does it look like?"
Rebekah: "It's like the sun."
Jim: "You mean it looks like light is coming out of his hands?"
Rebekah: "Yes"
Jim: "That's incredible. How are you feeling?"
Rebekah: "my tummy feels better."

What was blowing my mind was the fact that Jesus was showing her something that she couldn't possibly have made up! There's a verse in Habakkuk 3:4, that has been a favorite of mine for several years:

"His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden."

I've enjoyed that verse because several people have, historically, seen visions of Jesus with rays of light coming out of his hands to heal them!

I left the room amazed that Jesus had spoken to Josiah and Rebekah in a way that not only made sense to them and built up their faith, but mine as well! I'm still pumped about it! I mean, light coming out of his hands...that's awesome!
I've had my share of doubts about whether I could effectively lead my kids in listening prayer. Rebekah is very analytical and Josiah has a hard time being still. However, we've had some really great times this week and it's building my faith a whole lot!

Here's to Jesus showing up in our stomachs and to the color yellow!