Your prayers, as a child.

[staropeace]

When I was very young, my prayers sounded like this:
God bless mom and dad.
God bless the soul of Aunt Sarah Belle.
And for my cats:
God bless Pansy, Pearly and Cookie. God let em bide!!!! Yeah, I was saying in a polite way that God should keep his mitts off them and let them live a long long time. I was sorta pushy.
Do you remember your childhood prayers and stuff?

 

[Spideyman]

 

[blunthead]

My childhood prayers were mostly somewhat desperate.

 

[Grandpa]

God bless Mommy. I know that's right.
Wasn't it fun in the bath tonight?
The cold's so cold, and the hot's so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy - I quite forgot.

If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny's dressing-gown on the door.
It's a beautiful blue, but it hasn't a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.

Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I'm there at all.

Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said "Bless Daddy," so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember it. God bless me.




(From A.A. Milne: "Vespers")

 

[hipmamajen]

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

It seems kind of creepy, but it wasn't scary when I was a kid. It was just a matter-of-fact thing you said without really thinking about it, like the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...I did the basic "Now I lay me", and then included family members, pets and random people I cut out of magazines....

 

[HollyGolightly]

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

It seems kind of creepy, but it wasn't scary when I was a kid. It was just a matter-of-fact thing you said without really thinking about it, like the Pledge of Allegiance.

This is the one I said, too. Never scared me. The indoor crawl space being inside my bedroom closet and being the only member of the house sleeping in the basement scared me. I said that prayer over and over until I feel asleep fully believing that something might something might creep out of my closet and I would "die before I wake".

 

[skimom2]

I come from a completely non-religious (not anti--no thought was given to religion at all) family, so didn't have one until I was maybe about fifth grade, and I read the standard nighttime prayer in a book. Sounded like a good idea, so I learned it & said it every night. Even the 'die before I wake' sounded reasonable (I was in my Poe phase). For my own kids, we use the modified prayer Spidey posted; no sleep dying and soul taking, just angels watching over through the night and waking by morning light ).

I went to a school in San Antonio in third & fourth grade that thought they were getting past the restriction on prayer in schools by having kids recite the 23rd Psalm every morning (what the heck did they think Psalms were?), so I learned that one through hard work and embarrassment. Another definite reason why I never, ever, ever want prayer in schools--being the kid who didn't know what the hell was going on was awful. I hate the thought of it happening to other kids.

 

[Kurben]

Never said any. Not in school, not home nor anywhere. Came from parents that didn't believe even though my mother was the daughter of a priest. As soon as she became old enough she left the church and never went back. So i am not babtised in a church or anything. But i did get a bible in christmas present from my father with the comment that it was useful, almost necessary to know the stories as long as i didn't believe them. He meant that there are so many references in literature, music and sop on that you don't get if you don't know their background.

 

[skimom2]

Exactly. The bible, Shakespeare, Greek/Roman myths, and fairy tales are essential to understanding nuances in English literature (amongst others).

 

[blunthead]

..."Now I lay me"...

No mean feat.

 

[king family fan]

As A child i went through some rough times. I prayed God would take my life. Kind of sad memory of praying.

 

[blunthead]

As A child i went through some rough times. I prayed God would take my life. Kind of sad memory of praying.

(((((Lin)))))

 

[FlakeNoir]

As A child i went through some rough times. I prayed God would take my life. Kind of sad memory of praying.

I hear you, (((girl))).

 

[Walter Oobleck]

I had the usual ones, already posted, now I lay me down to sleep...and at times a grown-up, Ma or Grandma'd be standing nearby offering advice, suggesting blessings that I didn't understand though I did understand that blessings for others was a good thing...still, it made my face get red 'cause at the same time it seemed silly we had so much seemed like (even though we were poor), seemed like we were already blessed so why ask again?...and I had some pretty nasty conversations with God, too, pizzed-off kid, giving Him what for. Then too there were requests for a Charles Atlas body, so so-and-so wouldn't beat the crap out of me anymore...that plea went by the wayside and I learned to keep a low profile. Some of my conversations with God, I'm surprised a lightening bolt didn't come down and slap me up side the head. And then too, at times, since He knows all and is All and is everywhere the idea of conversation seemed...stoopid...He already knows my thoughts. It's been a number of years since I had one conversation...didn't sweat blood...but almost...and looking back it's unfortunate that I wasn't looking for the answers that God was providing, because...looking back, I realized that He was trying to answer that prayer, time again there was an answer there, right in front of me, but I was too pig-headed to realize it.

 

[ghost19]

Being overweight as a kid, I prayed every night to wake up as Optimus Prime of the Autobots. Was a very pissed off youngster because it never happened.....lol

 

[GNTLGNT]

No mean feat.

...stop talking about me feet...

 

[Bryan James]

Dear God,

Zzzzzzzzzzz

And He slept right back at me.
We have an understanding.

 

[HollyGolightly]

As A child i went through some rough times. I prayed God would take my life. Kind of sad memory of praying.

That's heartbreaking! (((((kff)))))

 

[Spideyman]

(((kff))) peace.