Ask And Ask And Ask Again!

As she tucked little Lynn into bed, her Mom asked, “Have you said your prayers yet?” “Well, not really,” she answered. “I started to say them. I got down on my knees and when I started saying them I remembered that they were the same ones that I said last night. Since I didn’t want to bore God, I told Him the story of the Three Bears. I hope He liked it.”

Our prayers never bore God. Jesus said just the opposite. On one occasion when He was teaching people to pray, He advised them to “Continue to ask until you get what you want; continue to search until you find what you are looking for, and continue to knock on the door that is closed until it is opened.” There is a most important lesson for us to accept and believe.

God will always answer our prayers, but He will answer them in His time and in the way that reveals His perfect wisdom and unconditional love for us. If He were to answer our requests without applying His wisdom and love, it might be the worst possible thing for us. Often we ask for things that, if our prayers were granted without His insight and love, it could be our ruin and bring about our destruction!

Jesus assures us that God will answer our prayers if we insist and persist. Not only will He answer them at the right time but that we will eventually and ultimately understand His wisdom, love and plan He has for us. It’s often hard to believe that He knows what is best for us. 

Prayer: Lord, we ask for determination to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. Give us patience to wait, believing that Your answer will be what we need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Matthew 7:7-11 Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

Ask And Ask And Ask Again!

As she tucked little Lynn into bed, her Mom asked, “Have you said your prayers yet?” “Well, not really,” she answered. “I started to say them. I got down on my knees and when I started saying them I remembered that they were the same ones that I said last night. Since I didn’t want to bore God, I told Him the story of the Three Bears. I hope He liked it.”

Our prayers never bore God. Jesus said just the opposite. On one occasion when He was teaching people to pray, He advised them to “Continue to ask until you get what you want; continue to search until you find what you are looking for, and continue to knock on the door that is closed until it is opened.” There is a most important lesson for us to accept and believe.

God will always answer our prayers, but He will answer them in His time and in the way that reveals His perfect wisdom and unconditional love for us. If He were to answer our requests without applying His wisdom and love, it might be the worst possible thing for us. Often we ask for things that, if our prayers were granted without His insight and love, it could be our ruin and bring about our destruction!

Jesus assures us that God will answer our prayers if we insist and persist. Not only will He answer them at the right time but that we will eventually and ultimately understand His wisdom, love and plan He has for us. It’s often hard to believe that He knows what is best for us. 

Prayer: Lord, we ask for determination to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. Give us patience to wait, believing that Your answer will be what we need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Matthew 7:7-11 Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

How Strong Is Your Belief?

Watching a person walking across a deep crevice on a wire is nerve-racking for most of us. As they carefully make their way from one side to the other with their long pole, it becomes frightening, even breath-taking at times.

There was a “walker” who decided that he was going to walk from one side of Niagara Falls to the other pushing a wheelbarrow that contained 200 pounds of rocks. When he accomplished his goal flawlessly, the reporters in the crowd thronged him with several questions. After answering a few of their questions he looked one of them in the eye and asked, “Do you think I can take my wheelbarrow back to the other side?”

Quickly the reporter responded, “Yes, I certainly do!”

“Good,” he said. “Then you believe that I can do it.”

“Of course I believe you can,” said the reporter.

Dumping the bricks on the ground in front of him he said, “If you believe it - get in the wheelbarrow and let me push you to the other side.”

Accepting Christ as our Savior is the first step in our walk of faith. It begins with “believe and be saved!” However, when we recognize Jesus as Lord, it means that we will trust Him completely to get us safely from where we are at that moment until we will be with Him in glory.

Our journey will have times of doubt, fear, and uncertainty but we must always trust Him.

Prayer:Give us courage, Father, to trust You for safe passage through those times in our lives when we fear “letting go and letting God” carry us through scary times. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Acts 16:31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”

How Strong Is Your Belief?

Watching a person walking across a deep crevice on a wire is nerve-racking for most of us. As they carefully make their way from one side to the other with their long pole, it becomes frightening, even breath-taking at times.

There was a “walker” who decided that he was going to walk from one side of Niagara Falls to the other pushing a wheelbarrow that contained 200 pounds of rocks. When he accomplished his goal flawlessly, the reporters in the crowd thronged him with several questions. After answering a few of their questions he looked one of them in the eye and asked, “Do you think I can take my wheelbarrow back to the other side?”

Quickly the reporter responded, “Yes, I certainly do!”

“Good,” he said. “Then you believe that I can do it.”

“Of course I believe you can,” said the reporter.

Dumping the bricks on the ground in front of him he said, “If you believe it - get in the wheelbarrow and let me push you to the other side.”

Accepting Christ as our Savior is the first step in our walk of faith. It begins with “believe and be saved!” However, when we recognize Jesus as Lord, it means that we will trust Him completely to get us safely from where we are at that moment until we will be with Him in glory.

Our journey will have times of doubt, fear, and uncertainty but we must always trust Him.

Prayer:Give us courage, Father, to trust You for safe passage through those times in our lives when we fear “letting go and letting God” carry us through scary times. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Acts 16:31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”

Anger And Forgiveness

One of the most esteemed and honored paintings in the world is The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. It is a marvel of grace and beauty, peace and calmness.

While da Vinci was in the process of painting it, one of his friends came to visit him. As they were talking, da Vinci became angry with him. As they continued arguing, he completely lost his temper and lashed out at his guest with bitter words.

After the man left his studio, he returned to his canvas to paint the face of Christ. Try as he would, he could not bring himself to continue his work on this part of the painting. His madness made him so miserable that he had to stop what he was doing.

Finally, after putting down his brushes, he searched out the man he had quarreled with to ask for his forgiveness. The man accepted his apology and da Vinci returned to his easel and completed painting the face of our Lord.

Anger is one of our most destructive emotions. It not only reveals a weakness in us but a true lack of our faith in God to solve our problems. When we act in anger, it is because we want to control others, usually to the point of harming them in one way or another. God made all of us different, and when we disagree with another person, it’s not who is right or wrong, but God wanting us to look at what is going on and see if there is something we can learn from one another.

Prayer: Lord, we need to be patient with others whom You love as much as You do each of us. When we disagree, give us the patience to be kind and think carefully. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Psalm 37:8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper - it only leads to harm.