God Hears and Answers

In the 1940's in a small town in the coal mining area of Kentucky an operating room nurse was struggling to raise her two young sons on her own. Her marriage had come to an end because an illness left her husband dependent upon pain medication. Her sons were not safe nor was she, living with a man addicted to drugs. She came to this town to take a night job in order to be with her two young boys during the day. A friend stayed with the boys while they slept. It was an impossible schedule and she knew it could not go on this way. One night while she was bathing her little boys she began to cry. As her tears fell on the bathtub she began to pray for deliverance from this intolerable living situation. She had not been a believer but she desperately asked God to help her.

One of the doctors she helped in the operating room was a Christian. She had not told him of her situation but two evenings later while she was at work this good doctor told her he needed a nurse to run his clinic at one of the mining camps. There was a house that went with the job and the clinic was open only in the mornings.

She could hardly believe her ears. God answered her prayers far beyond her expectations. A house, a job, short hours. From that day forward this nurse became a faithful servant of the Lord in every aspect of her life. For the rest of her life she never failed to tithe her salary, worship at every opportunity and witness to others about what had happened to her in her time of need.

Over the years I kept in touch with this dedicated Christian. After I moved to another state I made it a point to stop by her new home and visit with her. On one of my last visits I was telling her about making baskets. She brought out a cloth basket which her sister had made. She made a gift of it to me. I now have it sitting on a table where I can see it. It reminds me that God indeed hears us and does indeed answer us beyond our wildest dreams.

It is a Growing Thing

For about three or four years our church as been negotiating to build a sign which is more visible from a main road leading into our town. After quite a few bumps in the road, it was erected and lights put in along with signage. After a few months I noticed something had been added to the sign. It was just two words "Try Prayer". I hope it stays there. It is not as catchy as some church messages I have seen but it really says it all.

Those of us who have lived a lifetime and have found peace and contentment have learned how to be in that state of mind. No one knows for sure how prayer works but I have given it a lot of thought. Studies which focus on people who have lived long lives give a hint to what happens when prayer becomes an attitude of living. If you ask old people their secret to longevity they give various answers. No one answer seems to be THE answer. But many have a contented attitude which has it's root in believing God's promises.

Solomon was the last King of all Israel. He pleased God by asking for wisdom, and he was rewarded with it, and with wealth and power as well. Proverbs 4: 5 says "Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not...." Also in 4: 7 "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom : and with all thy getting get understanding."

For those who have been raised in the Christian faith this seems a natural thing. For others it may sound like a lot of foolishness. Others may think, it sounds like a "cure all" and an instant solution. But those who have this attitude of love and forgiveness, have reached this state of being over years of practice.

Immature faith asks God for things, mature faith asks God for wisdom and peace. This is what I think happens: Through prayer your mind is fed with positive thoughts, you gradually come to a state of being, accepting of differences without judgement. My doctor once told me "your body wants to be well". If that is true then your mind which controls all of your body, can better work in a state of tranquility. Casting out negativity in your thinking, allows your mind to heal in all areas.

In our day of wireless communications and the infusion of computer science, I have my own
view of how prayer works. Some how I think of God as an ever present, giant computer which can send and receive in a nanosecond. I do not mean to be sacrilegious, it is the way my mind can grasp such a complex issue. I do not understand how a computer works nor how God manages things but it may all boil down to faith acquired over a period of testing.

Perhaps the two words on the sign "Try Prayer" is an all encompassing answer to any of life's situations, bolstered with the faith gained by doing just what it says.