Wednesday, April 26, 2017
A man came to a wide river one day wishing to pass to the other side. He lifted up a prayer to God saying:“Lord, give me the strength to cross this river.” In an instant, he felt unusual strength in his arms and legs. In a matter of minutes, he swam across. A few days later another man came up to the river’s edge wishing to cross over. He too, lifted up a prayer to God saying: “Lord, give me the strength, intelligence, and wisdom to cross this river. God quickly gave him what he prayed for and the man proceeded to cut down a tree, made himself a raft, and crossed over to the other side. The next day, another man came to the river’s edge with the same dilemma. In his case, he scratched his head, looked up to Heaven and said: “Dear Lord, can you please help me cross this river?” In a moment, he heard a noise that sounded like a tree snapping. As he drew closer to investigate, he saw a bridge nearby and walked over to the other side.
So what was my point in that goofy story? Too often, when we pray to God, we don't only ask for His help, we tell Him exactly how to answer. And sometimes He answers our prayer just like we asked Him so we must always be careful what we pray for. We must never forget that God doesn’t need our advice when it concerns how and when He will answer. A simple, sincere plea for help is all we need to concern ourselves with when we present our petitions to Him. After all, He knows and understands our situation better than we do. Then, we can say as confidently as David, who wrote: Our soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield. (Ps 33:20) Moral of the story: Keep it simple when you pray to God. When it comes from the heart, sometimes all we need is this three-word prayer: “Lord, help me!”
God’s promise for today: (Psalm 50:15) “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
