Scripture & Thought
Matthew 7:11 (NKJV)
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Notice these words from John Wesley’s journal: “My horse was very lame, and my head did ache exceedingly. Now what occurred I here avow is truth – let each man account for it as he will. Suddenly I thought, ‘Can not God heal man or beast as His will?’ Immediately my weariness and headache passed; and my horse was no longer lame.”
Many years ago a man lived in a modest house adjacent to our church. I had heard he was ill, and I dropped by to assure him that the church would be praying for him. The front door of his house was open, and only a screen door kept folks and animals from walking right in. I called to him from the porch, and he said, “Come in.” He was lying on his bed near the rear of the house. As our conversation drew to a close, I asked him if I could pray for him. He was blunt. He said, “It won’t matter none. God only hears one prayer.” I asked what that prayer was. He said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
He was half right. God does hear the prayers of penitent sinners. But God hears prayers – period! He listens. The fact that our needs are unmet is not due to God’s insensitivity. Often it is because we have not asked. Wesley’s question – “Can not God heal man or beast as His will?” – was more an impulsive thought than an intercessory plea. It didn’t seem to matter. God heard, and he answered. Wesley had learned an important lesson about prayer that day: Ask, and keep on asking until you receive an answer from God. That’s the way it works.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know I have missed untold blessings and answers to prayer because I assumed you were too busy to listen. So I didn’t ask; didn’t want to bother you with a minor problem. I am sure I have prayed at times – in ignorance – for things that were selfishly motivated. And far too often I have failed to seek your will in difficult situations. Wesley’s experience has reminded me that you are very much interested in what interests me, and if I would just seek your will, half the battles of my life could be won. So please remind me of this truth each time I am reluctant to share with you the things that bug me every day of my life.
Amen.