9-24-2023

Good Morning All,

                  Matthew 7:7; “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

       There is an old story often told about prayer.  There once was a man who lived his life believing in Jesus and trusting in the promise of his eternal salvation.  Much of his earthly life was a struggle from one incident to another.  So, when he died and went to heaven, he was greeted by St. Peter and shown the mansion that he was going to spend eternity in.  The man was in awe of the size and scope of God’s blessings for him in eternity.  As they opened the door to look around, the place was filled with boxes, hundreds, and hundreds of boxes.  The man asked St. Peter about the boxes.  St. Peter replied, “These were the blessings that were yours for the asking while you lived on earth.  We will move them soon as you do not need them now.”

     This little piece of fiction is designed to tell us about prayer.  Jesus, repeatedly, asks us, begs us, and pleads with us to pray.  Yet how often do we?  How many times have we faced difficulties or battles and tried to cope with them on our own rather than trusting God and placing our fears in his hands?  How many times do we turn away from God rather than toward him in prayer?  Prayer is a great blessing that God gives to us yet often I hear people say things like, “I have done all I can do; now it is up to God.”  It has always been up to God.  Or maybe, “The only thing left is to pray.”  That is where we should start.

     The problem that most of us have with prayer is that we limit it.  We define a prayer as being answered only if it goes the way we want when we want it.  If we pray for a new job but don’t get it, we think the prayer has failed.  If we pray for rain and don’t get it, then our prayer went unheard.  What we need to see is that through prayer God seeks to change us and our heart.  He seeks to give us the comfort and the solace that we need if only we would ask for the grace to receive it.

   We need to ask God to change our heart and not our situation.  We need contentment more than we need a bigger paycheck.  We need patience more than we need a faster response.  We need to see that we need to change more than that others need to change to suit us.  We need to know that healing is not always physical but is more often spiritual and emotional reconnecting.  We need to see that God answers our needs and not always our wants but when we trust in God to answer our prayers; he will faithfully do so.

    We need to trust that God’s will is the best for us even when in the short term it looks differently.  Trust God and then ask him for his bountiful blessing; he will shower you with them like a gentle spring rain.

Father of all blessings, we are often slow to come to you for the many blessings that you would shower upon us.  We walk away from you and your amazing love.  Guide us to trust in you.  Be with those who struggle and battle on their own and suffer from the loneliness that this causes.  Bring them to the safety of your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret