Once after scolding my son, I tucked him into bed. He folded his hands, closed his eyes, and prayed, “God, help Daddy be nicer.”
You never know what kids will ask for when they pray. Sam asked, “God, I want to be like my Daddy when I grow older, but not with so much hair all over.” Jane prayed, “Dear God, instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t you just keep the ones you got now?” Norm prayed: “Did you mean for a giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?” “Dear God,” said Donna, “we read Thomas Edison made light but in Sunday school they said you did it. I bet he stole your idea.”
Does God answer prayer? A girl name Sarah prayed: “Dear God, please change the taste of asparagus. Thanks.” Well, I’ve tasted asparagus. God’s answer was no. Sometimes His answer is, “Wait.” That’s hard for a child. And a grownup. Sometimes He says, “Yes,” and sometimes He says it with a smile, and perhaps a twinkle of mischief.
During a trans-Atlantic voyage, the captain of an ocean liner heard that the famous writer and preacher F.B. Meyer was aboard, so he asked him to address the first class passengers on the topic of “Answered Prayer.” An agnostic was present. Afterwards a friend asked him, “What did you think?” The skeptic said, “I didn’t believe a word of it.” That afternoon Meyer spoke to the third class passengers. The agnostic came to hear him again, claiming, “I just want to hear what the babbler has to say.”
Before leaving for the service, the agnostic popped two oranges in his pocket for a snack. He passed an elderly woman sound asleep in her deck chair, her hands open. Grinning, he put the oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he found her happily eating one of the oranges. “You enjoying that?” he said with a smile. “Yes, sir,” she replied, “My Father is very good to me.” “Your father is still alive?” he asked. “Yes,” she replied, He is very much alive.” “What do you mean?” “Well, I’ve been seasick for days. So I asked God to send me an orange. I guess I fell asleep while praying. When I woke up, I found He not only sent me one but two!” The agnostic was speechless. Before long, he came to believe that God loved him and he placed his faith in Jesus.
We’d all love to experience such quick answers. But in the waiting we’re wise to focus on Scripture and remind ourselves that God is listening, that He cares.
“…The prayer of the upright is his delight,” says Proverbs 15:8 (WEB). “This is the boldness we have toward him,” says 1 John 5:14, “that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us.” And Romans 12:12 invites us to be, “ rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer.”
As we pray, let’s give thanks that God’s answers are wiser than our prayers. Which reminds me of eight-year-old Susie who prayed, “Please make my parents understand that if I don’t eat salad, I do better at school.”
