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Listen while you read: "God Sees The Little Sparrow Fall"1 (Lyrics) |
Luke 11:9-10 – So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV)
It was summer. Four of our family had come to Southampton, Ontario, Canada, to spend time at a rental cottage along Lake Huron. My husband, the two youngest (a girl and a boy), and I enjoyed the white sandy beach and the cold water of the lake.
This particular day, the four of us were walking along the beach in the afternoon. Our nine-year-old son decided that he would like to take a swim in the lake. The three of us watched as he waded some distance out in the shallow water. We noted the waves building higher. A storm was on its way that would become a heavy one that night. Our son, out in the water, was standing as the waves surrounded him. A high wave swirled upwards, reached his face, and washed away his glasses. As he searched in the turbulent waters, he could not locate them anywhere. He gave up looking and waded in to join us on the beach.
The loss of the glasses created a problem because this youngster really needed them. His vision was poor without them. So that evening when we spent time in a devotional, I prayed that God would help us find those glasses. Otherwise, we might need to take a long drive home and arrange for new ones.
That night, there was a great storm! In the morning when the four of us headed for the beach, it was a whole new scene. The storm was over, but it had left behind a great band of debris. It was perhaps twenty or thirty feet wide and fairly deep. The size was surprising, considering that the beach was kept clean. As we began to walk along and search for the glasses, it seemed an impossible task to find them. How could we possibly locate a little pair of dark-rimmed glasses in that mass of brown rushes, pieces of wood, and other fragments?
For our search, we sought out the approximate area where we had been walking when the accident happened. A man was approaching us. I spoke to him and inquired as to whether by any chance he had seen a pair of glasses as he walked along the beach. He glanced down where he was standing and saw tucked into the debris the dark stem of a pair of glasses. He pulled them out and handed them to me. They were our son's glasses! What a remarkable answer to prayer!
That incident happened more than four decades ago. Since that incident, I have prayed many prayers. Lately, I've been thinking about the "yes" answers that God has given. It is faith-building to review thoughtfully God's responses to prayers in our own lives and in the lives of people we know or about whom we have read.
Jesus encouraged people to be persistent in prayer. We can prevail in prayer with passion and commitment. Answers do not always happen as speedily as the one in the story. There are times when we are not given the "yes" answer that we desire. Sometimes, the answer is "no", and sometimes we must "wait". But there are those glorious "yes" answers that fill our hearts and minds with wonder, because we are so delighted. We are delighted not only because God has given us what we need, but also because He has listened to our prayers and given us a "yes".
We can depend upon a living God who loves us and knows what is best for us. He has given us promises in the Bible. As we believe in His promises and wisdom, our lives become spiritually richer, and we grow more like Jesus, Who taught us to pray.
Prayer: God of wisdom and love, may Your Spirit daily nudge us to persist in prayer and intercession not only for our own family's needs, but also for the needs of others here and abroad. Help us to remember Your promises and the wonderful answers to prayer that have we experienced or heard about. Grant us the wisdom to make time in our lives to pray to the One who loves and watches over us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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Thanks Joan for a good word.
Well done, Joan. Please write again.
Thanks for the reminder of answers, Joan, when it seems there are no answers.
Joan, thank you for increasing our faith with this wonderful answer to prayer. Blessings.
A beautiful devotional Joan, Thank you. Yes, God most definitely does answer prayers…especially when we pray for others.
Dear Joan,
I really enjoy your story “God Answers Prayer”.
Thank you.
Hi Joan:
Thank you for your encouraging devotional.
Over the years I have prayed for lost things and God has never failed to have them turn up – like a contact lens in a car. That took overnight, a second search and just before giving up, the flashlight hit on something glistening.
God is so faithful. Many people have said to me “You pray about THAT?” meaning it’s too insignificant.
Thank God that He cares!
Hi Joan,
Your devotional of today was very appropriate for the situation that obtains in our household. I have been needing surgery. The waiting time at the clinic was over six months but just when there seemed to be nowhere to turn to a simple phone call from the clinic gave me a date much sooner for the surgery. Proof that “The Lord with perfect that which concerns me.” Ps.138:8. And there remains only that horrible guilty feeling that follows all periods of distrust and needless panic.
Blessings.
Hello Joani,
Thank you so much for your devotional today that is helpful to me, and I will share it with family members.
My elderly Sister and her elderly husband, are at a place right now of a must change of living. heir children have some big decisions to make and, as I messaged to my niece today, my prayer is that they will recognize doors closing and the right door being opened. The Lord has charge of those doors, and, being a Christian family, we and our friends know how to pray. The answers will come in His time with full directions. It’s not always easy to “wait patiently on the Lord.”
So thank you for story, and the encouragement you have passed along.
(So. Calif.)
Hi Joan.
Thanks for sending me your devotional. What a wonderful story.
Praising God continuously regardless of what is happening is something that I find blesses me.
Joan – Talk about faith building! Your story did that for me. I enjoy your writing style.
Please write again.
(California USA)
Joan, this was such a great example of vibrant faith and expectation of God’s intervention, and I had opportunity to use it in my sermon this morning about bringing kids up with the knowledge of a loving God and the experience of answered prayer. While I was reading it, the thought struck me, “I wonder if that was an angel that God sent along the beach.” Of course, we’ll never know, but the idea of stopping right over the glasses sure makes me suspicious!
Dear Joan,
Thanks for sharing your “answer to prayer” regarding the young boy’s glasses prayed for and found in the debris washed up on the lakeshore by a storm.
Have you read the little book HEAVEN IS FOR REAL by Todd Burpo (with Lynn Vincent) — published by Thomas Nelson? The book tells of the miracle of a little boy who recovered from an extreme illness in answer to many prayers. The little lad lived to tell of experiences of being in heaven while so very ill. A very fine read!
Keep writing.
Good Monday Morning Joan:
Your devotional was heart warming and certainly teaches us God does hear and answer our prayers. Over and over again I have witnessed the loving hand of God answering my prayers. Often He has tried me by making me wait for His decision, and often His decision is not exactly what I wanted, but His way always turns out to be the best thing for me.
I am sure your young son will never forget the fact that God did hear and answer your prayers, making him a man of faith who will also search the wisdom of the Lord in his life.
Have a blessed week and thank you for your words of assurance that God always hears His children and answers our prayers according to His will.
Thank you for your devotional, which I believe is directed by God, for spiritual support for us all. For the past few days I have pondered “answers.” Last Saturday I prayed for help for one particular thing. Very little time passed that day when my phone rang with the answer. Nobody can tell me about God answering prayer!