Monday, January 10, 2022
Our church here in TN has been focusing on prayer the last few weeks and several times the question was asked: What are you praying for?
This weekend we held our first Garage Sale here in TN. Yes, in winter!!! It was cold. Thankfully most of it actually took place IN the garage. And yes, people did come and we sold lots!
As I was setting up, preparing for the sale, dad came out to investigate. I had a whole table and more dedicated to mom’s snowmen. To encourage sales, I had a sign stating: For all snowmen not otherwise marked, 6 for $1.00. There were lots and lots of snowmen!!! I wish I had taken a picture of all of them, but I didn’t take any pictures this time. Oh well. Anyway, in the course of the conversation that followed, dad asked me a challenging question, “If someone wanted the whole collection, what deal would you give them?”
Someone want the whole collection? In all my years of doing garage sale-ing, that had never happened. In fact, Christmas decorations, especially old decorations, have not proven to be a big hit. Not at all! Nevertheless, I thought about it and said $20.00 would be a great bargain. Dad agreed. Then I went one step further, I prayed about it, admitting it would be a miracle for that to happen.
Saturday came and so did the early birds! One of the first items to sell was, would you believe, a snowman cookie jar! Shortly after that, a couple came in and the lady commented on the snowmen sign. To that Tim responded, “if you take the whole collection, we will give you a great deal.”
Her husband groaned and she piped up, “How much?”
So glad this question had already been mulled over, I didn’t hesitate, “$20.00!”
SOLD! I immediately thought of my prayer and shook my head. I had hoped it would happen, and believed it could happen, but doubted that it actually would happen! Still God answered and I learned an important lesson in prayer.
PRAY = Persistence, Resolve, Anticipation, Yearning (acrostic from a sermon) Think about those descriptions of prayer for a moment. Do you pray like that? My shortcomings in that department humble and shame me. I have much to learn.
A story about Watchman Nee our pastor shared on Sunday illustrates this even more. He gave me his notes to share with you:
Preaching seemed quite fruitless on the island, and Nee discovered it was because of the dedication of the people there to an idol they called Ta-wang. The islanders were convinced of his power because on the day of his festival and parade each year the weather was always near perfect.
“When is the procession this year?” young Wu (a 17-year-old working with Nee and some other missionaries) asked a group that had gathered to hear them preach.
“It is fixed for January 11th at 8 am,” was the reply.
“Then,” said the new convert, “I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th.”
At that, there was an outburst of cries from the crowd: “That is enough! We don’t want to hear any more preaching. If there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!”
Watchman Nee had been elsewhere in the village when this confrontation took place. Upon being informed about it, he saw the situation was serious and called the group to prayer.
On the morning of the 11th, there was not a cloud in the sky, but during grace for breakfast, sprinkles began to fall, followed by heavy rain.
Worshipers of the idol Ta-wang were so upset that they placed it in a sedan chair and carried it outdoors, hoping this would stop the rain. The rain increased. After only a short distance, the carriers of the idol stumbled and fell, dropping the idol and fracturing its jaw and left arm.
As a result, a number of young people turned to Christ, but the elders of the village said the wrong day had been chosen. The proper day of the procession, should have been the evening of the 14th.
When Nee and his friends heard this, they again went to prayer, asking for rain on the 14th and for clear days for preaching until then. After that the sky cleared and on the good days that followed there were thirty converts.
On the crucial day, the 14th, it was another perfect day and they had good meetings. As evening approached, they brought the matter to the Lord’s remembrance. Torrential rain and flooding was the immediate response. The power of the idol over the islanders was broken. The enemy was defeated. Conversions followed.
Believing prayer had brought a great victory!
Perhaps the question shouldn’t be, what are you praying for, but how are you praying. I know I want my prayers to be more persistent, resolved, full of anticipation and yearning. How about you?
That is something to think about!
Blessings, mari
AMEN! Truely something to think about, pray about and believe!