A little girl went to a meeting with her parents.
The meeting had a specific purpose, as the ground had dried up and there had been no rain for a while. The congregation had decided to gather to pray for rain.
Everyone agreed: prayer is worth it, and it’s the only thing they can do together now.
The girl came into the prayer room and watched the adults take their places in the church pews. Why didn’t anyone else have an umbrella with them, only she? Was she the only one who didn’t want to get wet on the way home after the prayer meeting?
The Bible tells us to pray in faith: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)
We once prayed for a person who had a sore back. I had no doubt that God heard our prayer, and I wondered how the healing would come—right away or gradually. When we finished praying, the person who had asked for prayer continued talking in the same way she had before the prayer. In her own words, she made it seem as if the prayer had not benefited her at all.
We do not pray just for the sake of praying, but rather by waiting with gratitude for the answer from heaven. If we believe that God hears our prayers, we cannot think in vain that nothing supernatural will happen. Nor should we look to the person who prays, but rather to Jesus, who has all power. He uses the prayers of needy people to bring help to people.
The Holy Spirit brings answers from the Father’s throne to requests made in Jesus’ name. Let us be bold in praying and also in waiting for answers, trusting in Him who has given us the promise that to him who asks it will be given.
Marja Toukola