A dear lady in one of the churches I served lost her husband tragically when the car he was working on slipped off the jack and crushed him to death. She was a young married woman and so distraught with grief that her entire body broke out in hives.
One day, she cried out to the Lord on her back porch and said, “God, you’ve got to help me.” At that moment, she was touched by the power of God and was relieved of her grief and the hives soon disappeared.
This is a picture of what Jesus was teaching when he taught us about our Heavenly Father who is pleased to answer the prayers of his children.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
“For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7.7-8).
George Muller lived in a time when the prevailing religious thought was that God was not involved in the affairs of human beings. Muller sought to prove that belief wrong and determined to not ask people to supply money for the orphanage he ran; rather, he would ask God.
On one particular occasion, there was nothing to eat. He assembled all the children and his wife around the table and, as he was asking the blessing for the food, God answered his prayers.
He had been seeking, asking, and knocking, and God responded by leading someone to bring food.
Muller is one of the great examples from the 1800s of people who trusted God and saw results for their efforts.
Further Encouragement
A pastor was with his two sons at the Texas State Fair. They had waited in line for quite some time for one of the amusement rides when one of his sons said, pointing to the boy behind them, “Hey, this is our new friend, Dad, and we want him to ride with us.”
They had just met him in line. The little boy didn’t have any money or tickets for the ride.
But because the two boys asked their father, you know the answer to the story. Yes, indeed, that boy, their new friend, joined in the ride.
Surely God is greater than a Texas pastor. That’s the point of Jesus’ saying.
“Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake?
“If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7.9-11).
What are you asking for?
My friend LeRoy Sullivan used to break out in song with his baritone voice during prayer meetings. One of his favorites was “Jesus on the Main Line.”
Jesus on the mainline, tell Him what you want.
Jesus on the mainline, tell Him what you want.
Jesus on the mainline, tell Him what you want,
Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.
Call Him up, call Him up, tell Him what you want.
Call Him up, call Him up, tell Him what you want.
Call Him up, call Him up, tell Him what you want,
Just call Him up and tell Him what you want.
You may not be familiar with the terminology of a mainline. It just means that there is a direct connection between you and your loving Heavenly Father.
Jesus is telling us, in the words of this song, and especially in the Scripture, that He is open and available for our requests.
Here is something you may want to try as an experiment in prayer.
Ask the Lord if there is something He wants you to pray about. Is there some burden on your heart that God wants you to bring to Him in prayer? Do that. Be specific about it.
Pray about it, asking, knocking, seeking, knowing that He is your good Heavenly Father who gives good gifts, and then observe how He answers.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 