Becoming Childlike

A Praying Life Becoming Childlike - Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 18:1-6; Luke 18:9-14 November 9, 2025 Author and theologian David Powlison, in his forward to Paul Miller's book, A Praying Life, brings attention to the "self-affirmation" culture. You know that cultural norm where you stand in front of the mirror and say good things to yourself to speak things into existence. What's interesting about that is - well - it's considered normal. However, you mention prayer, and that's a whole other conversation. In fact, that's really a great word to describe prayer - conversation. What Miller attempts to do in his book is to help Christians to understand how to pray to the Father. To make prayer a priority and a necessity in our everyday lives. We also know that prayer could be a production to some people. Long, flowery language, or worse - the opposite - vague and non-specific language. One of my least favorite prayer requests are those that are "unspoken." Or those "prayer requests" that's actually gossip. Powlison, in his forward, and Miller, in the rest of the book attempt to change our approach to prayer. Focusing on how our relationship with the Father can shape how we pray to Him. Powlison said it this way, "[Jesus] teaches you to stop talking to yourself. He shows you how to stop making prayer into a production. Jesus teaches you to start talking to your Father ..." So, we will attempt to do the same in this short sermon series on A Praying Life, to point you to the Scriptures to learn to pray. This morning, we're going to begin with the mind, or mindset. By answering the question: How should we approach the Father? We'll speak today about one of those approaches: Becoming Childlike. Mark 10:13-16 record the words that we'll use this morning to start this series and this idea of becoming childlike. Later, we'll connect this with how this relates directly to prayer. Please follow along in your bibles or on the screen. Mark, chapter 10, beginning at verse 13: 13 AND THEY WERE BRINGING CHILDREN TO HIM THAT HE MIGHT TOUCH THEM, AND THE DISCIPLES REBUKED THEM. 14 BUT WHEN JESUS SAW IT, HE WAS INDIGNANT AND SAID TO THEM, "LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME; DO NOT HINDER THEM, FOR TO SUCH BELONGS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 15 TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, WHOEVER DOES NOT RECEIVE THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE A CHILD SHALL NOT ENTER IT." 16 AND HE TOOK THEM IN HIS ARMS AND BLESSED THEM, LAYING HIS HANDS ON THEM. This is a sermon series on prayer, but this passage isn't exactly about prayer - at least directly. So, what is Jesus trying to teach His disciples here? Jesus is really trying to help them to understand how we should approach the Father. There are two key words in this passage. First is ... * "COME" o In context, these children approached Jesus so that He might touch them. o Some believe that they were brought to Him - as a Rabbi - for a dedication or blessing. o Matthew's parallel account seems to point to this. o In another account, a woman who was bleeding for 12 years touched His garment, and she was healed. o Either way, they approached Him with faith and trust. o Noteworthy in this account are the two responses to these children. * The disciples wanted to send them away, but ... * Jesus accepted them and even went as far as to say; you should be like them. o In what way? * Could it be because of their innocence? * Unlikely, because, if you are a parent, or have seen a child, you know that they're not exactly innocent. * More likely, the emphasis is on how they receive something, and don't feel like they must earn or work for everything they get. * In fact, that leads us to the next key word, which is: * "RECEIVE" o Notice here that the child is the one receiving o The child receives the gift from the Father. o There's a sense of trust and faith in this action. o We, as Christians, need the trust and the faith of a child, so that we can enter the kingdom. o In fact, when we become disciples, we do become children of God. o We are born again, and therefore we put away the negativity of our former lives and shift our focus on the Father. Just like a child would with his father. o Unlike adults, generally, who become cynical and bitter, children are more trusting and dependent. So, how can we summarize this concept? Let's attempt to do so with our main idea this morning: A praying life requires that I become like a child. Let's look at a couple of other passages this morning to help us develop this connection to prayer further. In Matthew 18:1-4, Matthew records another example of the childlikeness that Jesus expects from His disciples. In addressing the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus answers a question from His disciples. Here's what we see there: 1 AT THAT TIME THE DISCIPLES CAME TO JESUS, SAYING, "WHO IS THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?" 2 AND CALLING TO HIM A CHILD, HE PUT HIM IN THE MIDST OF THEM 3 AND SAID, "TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, UNLESS YOU TURN AND BECOME LIKE CHILDREN, YOU WILL NEVER ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 4 WHOEVER HUMBLES HIMSELF LIKE THIS CHILD IS THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Jesus' answer - I'm sure - was not what they expected. They began by asking who was the greatest, but instead, He gives them TWO CHARACTERISTICS OF A DISCIPLE. First, He says the disciple is to ... * Be childlike (v.3) o No surprise here, right? o One author was sure to clarify that being childlike does not mean being childish. o So, what does it mean to be "childlike" in our prayers? Let's answer that by reviewing how a child would pray. Here's a short list: * A child will ask for what he wants. * And that same child will continue to ask for those that he wants. * A child will say what's on his mind * Some children will talk your ear off * Some children will tell you endless stories * Some children will give you gifts ... just because. * Some children will share with you what they did today. * A child will generally take whatever their parent gives to them. o Jesus is reminding His disciples to be childlike in their relationship, in their approach, and in their prayers with their Father in heaven. o He also says in verse 4 that we are to ... * Be humble (v.4) o You see, a child doesn't have all the answers and he knows it. o A child does know, however, that they need their parent. * Think about that. * When you need something or someone, you treat that something or someone differently, don't you? o A child will also approach the Father just as they are. o When someone (especially an adult) becomes a disciple, we must get to that point, where we know and accept that we need the Father. o When we get to that point, that's when we become open in our prayers. o It's there where we become honest in our prayers. o So, we must humbly approach the Father in prayer. If the Matthew passage turns us to humility in our approach in our prayer, what does that look like in reality? I think the example of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector from Luke 18:9-14 can help answer that. Here's what Luke records: 9 HE ALSO TOLD THIS PARABLE TO SOME WHO TRUSTED IN THEMSELVES THAT THEY WERE RIGHTEOUS, AND TREATED OTHERS WITH CONTEMPT: 10 "TWO MEN WENT UP INTO THE TEMPLE TO PRAY, ONE A PHARISEE AND THE OTHER A TAX COLLECTOR. 11 THE PHARISEE, STANDING BY HIMSELF, PRAYED THUS: 'GOD, I THANK YOU THAT I AM NOT LIKE OTHER MEN, EXTORTIONERS, UNJUST, ADULTERERS, OR EVEN LIKE THIS TAX COLLECTOR. 12 I FAST TWICE A WEEK; I GIVE TITHES OF ALL THAT I GET.' 13 BUT THE TAX COLLECTOR, STANDING FAR OFF, WOULD NOT EVEN LIFT UP HIS EYES TO HEAVEN, BUT BEAT HIS BREAST, SAYING, 'GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A SINNER!' 14 I TELL YOU, THIS MAN WENT DOWN TO HIS HOUSE JUSTIFIED, RATHER THAN THE OTHER. FOR EVERYONE WHO EXALTS HIMSELF WILL BE HUMBLED, BUT THE ONE WHO HUMBLES HIMSELF WILL BE EXALTED." So, as we close this morning, I want to look at ... THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF PRAYING LIKE A CHILD: First, I must ... * Trust God (v.13) o Notice how the tax collector was STANDING FAR OFF. o There is a level of faith here, even though he was far away, he knew his Lord was near. o A disciple has no reason not to trust the Father. o He has proven Himself to be faithful, time and time again. o The Scriptures tells us that He will provide for us, just like He does for the sparrows. o The Scriptures tell us that He will cover us, just like the lilies in the field. o The Scriptures tell us that He will forgive us of our sins when we confess. o He is trustworthy, and we must trust Him, not only with our day-to-day lives, but also with our requests to Him. o Maybe you think your prayers are "too little" for Him to worry about. Pray about it anyway, a child likely would. o Next, * Be vulnerable (v.13) o The tax collector couldn't even look at the heavens; he knew that he was not worthy of being in the Lord's presence. o While we should be the same way, we know that He wants us to have communion with Him. o We talked about this just last week; He loved us so much that He sent His Son to be a propitiation for us. o So, we cannot be afraid to ask God for anything, we also cannot be afraid to open up to Him. o Maybe you're struggling with something. Literally just vent and rant to the Lord. o Maybe you have an idea that you're unsure about ... run it by the Lord! o Maybe you have a decision to make ... ask Him about it. o When I'm studying and writing my sermons, I cannot tell you the amount of time I spend walking around my house talking to God about the passage or my ideas or thoughts about the sermon. o Part of the problem, I think, is that we make the mistake of thinking too much. o Just say what's on your heart. o Open up to Him. o Here, in part, is how we do that, with our next characteristic ... * Keep it simple (v.13) o The tax collector's prayer was only 7 words. o We have the tendency of wanting to impress ourselves, others, or even God with our long-winded, wordy prayers. o Even the Model Prayer from Jesus (also known as the Lord's Prayer) is simple in its concept. o He provided us with a model, so we didn't have to worry too about how to do it. o Here, He makes it even more simple. Just talk. A child will simply say what is on their minds, and so should we. o In fact, I spoke about this very thing back in March. I shared with you some "funny prayers of children," here are a few of them: * "Dear God, I went to this wedding, and they were kissing right there in church. Is that OK?" * "Dear God, my Grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go? * "Dear God, please take care of my daddy, mommy, sister, brother, my doggy and me. Oh, please take care of yourself, God. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess." o Imagine being so comfortable and trusting in the Father, that you could pray like those children. o You know, while these are funny, they are sincere. We said earlier in our main idea that a praying life requires that I become like a child. I remember the carefree days of childhood. As we know, when we get to a certain stage of maturity, those days seem to fade away. In today's world, it is easy to be bitter and cynical. It's easy to lose our joy. Jesus reminds us in these passages this morning that we can return to those childlike days. How? By remembering that we are children of God. That means we can approach Him with simple and honest prayers. That means we can tell Him anything that is on our minds. That means we can ask Him for anything. When was the last time you just spoke to God about anything and everything that came to mind? Maybe give it a shot this week. The results may surprise you. Let's pray. 2