To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, September 16.

By Andrew McChesney

It was a very, very dark night.

Mother, Father, and little 4-year-old Maris were sleeping in their house in the countryside of Latvia. It was so completely dark that you couldn’t see through the window. You couldn’t see your hand if you held it in front of your face.

Suddenly, Mother woke up.

Usually, Mother slept very soundly. When she put her head on the pillow, she fell asleep in two minutes. She only woke up when the sun came up in the morning.

But that night, she woke up with a jolt. She was wide awake. Father was sound asleep beside her. Somewhere in the dark room was 4-year-old Maris on his small bed.

“God, why did You wake me up?” Mother prayed silently. “What do You want from me? What do You want me to do?”

Mother wondered if someone was in danger somewhere in the world and God wanted her to pray for that person.

“OK, I can pray,” Mother said.

After praying, she still couldn’t fall asleep, so she wondered who else God might want her to pray for. She prayed for hospitals. She prayed for prisons. She prayed for people driving in cars and for children and for everything in the whole world. But she still couldn’t sleep. Then she heard a sound.

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

She became upset. It was the sound of a mosquito, and she knew that it was flying around her son’s bed.

Mother jumped out of bed and ran to the place where the sound was coming from.

But, unfortunately, she couldn’t switch on the light. Father slept poorly. If she woke him up, he would not be able to sleep again. Then he would be upset. She didn’t want that.

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

Mother tried to catch the mosquito by following its sound. She fist-grabbed the air frantically.

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

After trying and trying, Mother thought, “What can I do? I know! I need to pray to God. I will pray to God to help me catch the mosquito. God is my only solution.”

Praying in faith, Mother stretched out her hand and fist-grabbed the air one more time. She caught the mosquito! She was so happy and grateful to God.

Mother went to Maris. He was turning back and forth in his bed. She thought, “Oh no! Maybe the mosquito already bit him. But I don’t want to wake him up to find out.”

Then, just to find out, Mother asked in a very quiet voice, “Are you awake, Maris?”

“Yes,” he said.

Mother’s next question was: “Did the mosquito wake you up?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do?”

“I prayed to God to help me with the mosquito.”

Then Mother understood how prayer works.

First, the mosquito woke up Maris.

Then, Maris prayed to God for help.

After that, God woke up Mother. But Mother didn’t know what to do. She asked God, “What do You want me to do?” Without having an answer, she started praying for the whole world. When she asked God a second time what He wanted her to do, He pointed her to the mosquito.

So, Mother got out of bed and tried to catch the mosquito, but she couldn’t without prayer. When she prayed for help, God gave her the strength to catch the mosquito.

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help children know about the power of prayer in Latvia. The offering will help construct a building in Riga where kids can learn about the God who hears prayers.