Boys and girls, I would like to tell you about times when we were traveling and the Lord Jesus answered our prayers with a “Yes.” Some of these were times of danger, and it was important that the Lord help us. Other times were not very important, and we could have gotten along just as well if the Lord had said, “No.” But the Lord likes us to trust Him and tell Him what we need or would like, just as you ask your parents for things.
When our daughter Grace was seven years old, she really liked panda bears. She had a panda bear dress, stuffed panda bears and a book about them. We had traveled to Calgary, Alberta, and the family we were visiting asked, “Would you like to go to the zoo? China has loaned the zoo two panda bears for the summer.”
We were delighted to go to the zoo, but when we got there, we learned that we would have to wait in line for forty-five minutes before it would be our turn to see the pandas. Grace’s daddy said quietly, “Do we want to wait that long?”
Just then Grace said, “I’ve been praying and praying that I might get to see some real live panda bears.”
Then her daddy quietly said, “Yes, we will wait that long.”
The Lord Jesus wants us to call on Him when we are in trouble too. He says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15))
The car we used to have was a good car, but it had one fault -about every six months the windshield wipers would break. This was a serious matter, because where we live it rains a lot.
The problem with the wipers was a thin piece of metal. This metal piece was so thin that it couldn’t stand up to all the use it got. After it had broken twice, I ordered five of the pieces so that we would always have one when it was needed. I kept them in the glove compartment.
One day I had to drive over the mountains on a freeway for an appointment. It was raining hard, and just as I got to the top of the mountain pass, the windshield wipers stopped working. I couldn’t see anything! I slowed down, but I was afraid to slow down too much because the freeway traffic was going fast and my slowness could cause an accident. I also didn’t want to stop because I needed to get to the appointment on time. I drove along as best I could for a while, trying to see out the rainy windshield. Then I remembered another time when the Lord had helped us in a bad storm. I’ll tell you what happened that time.
Our family had been traveling in Iowa where it can rain so hard that you have to pull over and stop the car even though the wipers are working well. The rain was pouring down so heavily we could barely see. I said, “If it doesn’t let up a little, we should stop . . . this is dangerous!”
Suddenly, the rain stopped completely. A little voice in the backseat said, “I didn’t know He would answer so soon!” Our little girl had asked the Lord Jesus to stop the rain, and He stopped it right away.
Remembering that incident as I drove over the mountains with the broken windshield wipers, I said to myself, “If the Lord helped us that time, He certainly can do it again.” I prayed, asking that He would stop the rain so I could drive on in safety, and He answered my prayer too - the rain stopped. I drove into the next town where a mechanic removed the broken piece and installed the new one.
Often when we have a problem, we try everything we can and then remember to pray about it. It would be more honoring to the Lord Jesus if we would tell Him about it first. He loves us so much, and He delights to help us.
These stories have told about times when the Lord Jesus gave us what we asked for. But sometimes He doesn’t give us what we ask for, because He has a better plan for us. We should always trust His love and thank Him for His answer, whether it is “Yes,” “No” or perhaps “Later.”
ML-04/22/2007