“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
–Matthew 7:7
As we are approaching the height of Christmas shopping season, I am reminded about a lady in Miami, Florida who wrote the editor of the Miami Herald because it had printed the results of an academic study on how prayer helped heal sickness. In her letter, she talked about a hurricane that hit Miami. She had gotten word that the hurricane was coming and so, though she wasn’t a praying person, she tried prayer, asking God to keep the storm from hitting her home.
The clouds rolled in and the storm raged. And when it was over, it destroyed her house despite her prayers. So she asked the editor, “What do you think about that? What about this God who Christians say answers prayer? I prayed and He did nothing!”
The editor responded in his editorial, “Madam, I don’t know much about prayer either. And to tell you the truth, I’m not much of a praying man so I don’t know why God didn’t answer your prayer. But I’m wondering… could it be that He was spending time with some of His regular customers?!”
Many times, I find out that when people say, “I’ve been praying about this,” what they really mean is “I prayed once about this.” But God wants more than simply our lip service. He wants our trust and our lives. So pray often, talking to God about your needs on a regular basis and most importantly, giving Him control by submitting to His will regardless of whether His answer is not what you desired.
PRAY OFTEN, AND SUBMIT TO HIS WILL.
