1 Chronicles 29:10b-11 “Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.”
Photo by Mark Jefferson Paraan on Unsplash
Faith is the key that unlocks the answers to our prayers. We must be so acquainted with the God of the universe that we genuinely believe who He is, understand His heart, and are confident that He rewards those who genuinely seek Him. When we desire to expand the boundaries of our faith in God, He often uses small answers to prayer to move us forward.
Saturday evening found me on the way to the grocery store. It was a stormy night but there were a few things I needed to purchase that couldn’t wait. The weather held until I arrived at the store, but while walking the aisles the torrent let loose. Thunder reverberated through the walls and a driving rain pelted the roof like machine gun fire. I waited in line with my loaded cart wondering how I was going to unload everything into the truck and make it home in a timely manner. The weather app didn’t offer much hope that the storm would clear away soon, but my feet were aching. I just wanted to go home and sit in front of the fire.
Earlier that morning I had read the beginning of King David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles. The descriptions of our great God had intrigued me. “Yours, O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth . . .” It came to me – as I stood dreading the next moments of running through the storm with a loaded cart while everything in the heavens rained down on my world – that my God even had power over the forces of nature.
“Lord,” I prayed, “I know that getting soaking wet is not a major disaster, but my feet hurt and I just want to go home. Please stop the rain – just until I load the packages and help me get home as quickly as possible!”
I paid for my things and went to the door. The rain continued to pour and I prepared myself with some excuse why God hadn’t seen fit to answer this pitiful request. As I got ready to run, a young man wearing a yellow rain poncho approached me and asked if he could watch my cart while I brought my car around. I thankfully took him up on the offer, darted to the truck and brought it under the protection of the store’s awning where the young man even helped me load. I gratefully thanked him, told him he was an answer to prayer (really!) and headed home.
I pondered the events at the store and became even bolder. “Lord, thank you for your answer, even better than I had hoped, but we don’t have a garage and I still have to get the items into the house. No one is home and I won’t have anyone to help me there. You know I have been trying to grow in faith, to believe that I will receive when I ask, so won’t you please stop the rain when I get home?”
The driving rain continued to batter the windshield and the wipers faithfully swept back and forth clearing my view of the road. Each time I wondered how to get my many packages down the long sidewalk and into the house I pushed the thoughts aside. I had asked the Lord to stop the rain and I was going to believe that He would. After all He had provided for me at the store, so surely He would finish the job.
The rain continued to push me along our road, but when I made the turn into our lane it suddenly stopped. I pulled into our puddling parking spot and carried all the bags along the sidewalk and into the kitchen. I was dry. The bags were dry. And I was home.
Getting home through a storm. Carrying groceries into the house. Why did God answer these insignificant prayers? I believe it is because He cares and even more than keeping me dry He wanted to expand the boundaries of my faith for the even bigger requests for which I am praying. Faith is the key that unlocks the answers to our prayers – and even that faith comes from Him! Sometimes our God answers the smallest of prayers in surprising ways in order to help us trust Him even more!
Love,
Mama
Leave a Reply