Asking God for Strength

When you pray, do you thank God for the many blessings  in your life? Do you ask for strength to get through something or do you pray that God will remove whatever obstacle from your path? Sometimes we go through trials to learn and to grow. Maybe we have to go through struggles in order to become stronger. I found the following story about a little boy who when he prayed; he didn't ask God to win but instead he asked God for strength. I think we could all learn a lesson from this little boy. Maybe we need to learn how to pray differently and instead of asking God to make things easy or asking God to do things for us, maybe we should ask for strength to get through whatever it is God is asking us to do. We are never alone. God is always by our sides, cheering us on. Sometimes even carrying us. I know He has carried me, when I couldn't even walk. God will give us strength to get through anything and we will come out of our trial stonger and better because of it..... all we have to do is ask...... Here is the story that touched me so deeply:

 My son, Gilbert, was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to “dad”. That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed. Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The project began. Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn’t do. Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids’ cars and was feeling pretty proud of his “Blue Lightning”, the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own.

Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race. Once there my little one’s pride turned to humility. Gilbert’s car was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed. A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert’s lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility, Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had “mom”. As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there.

 

As the last race was about to begin, my wide eyed, shy eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped. Gilbert went to his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on his face and announced, ‘Okay, I am ready.” As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy’s car.

Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud “Thank You” as the crowd roared in approval. The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, “So you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?” To which my young son answered, “Oh, no sir. That wouldn’t be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn’t cry when I lost.”

Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn’t ask God to win the race, he didn’t ask God to fix the outcome. Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn’t cry out to God, “No fair, they had a father’s help!”. No, he went to his Father for strength. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God’s strength to get through the struggle. “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13

 

Gilbert’s simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never doubted that God would  answer his request. He didn’t pray to win and, in the process, hurt someone else, he prayed that God give him the grace to lose with dignity. Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also showed the crowd that he wasn’t there without a “dad”, but His Father was most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.

May we all learn to pray this way.

Blessings

Answering God's Call

In this day and age, it is much easier to spread God’s word than it was years ago. The internet is such a powerful tool. We no longer have to go door to door preaching the word of God. We can reach out to so many more people by sitting in our living rooms and typing on a computer. The internet is such a powerful resource and we need to use it to get God’s word out! We need to put God first in our lives because God wants to come first in our lives. He wants to be above all other things in our lives. He wants us to turn to Him first when we are in need. He wants us to have faith and believe that He can figure things out and that He has a better plan. It may not be our plan but it is His plan and His plan is so much better and more fulfilling than our plan. All we have to do is trust in Him. If we don’t put God first, He has the unique ability to get our attention one way or anther. The following story illustrates this perfectly: 

God called my name one day because He needed someone to talk to others about Him. I said to Him, “Lord, I can’t do it. I am so busy. I have work and school and spending time with my husband and I just took on coordinating a program for my community to help our children do better, but in my spare time I will help you look for someone else to help you.”

God asked me, “Well, where could I find someone? I thought I saw your name on my list of available people?”

“That was the prayer that I prayed last year, God. Things have changed since then.”

“How so?” asked God.

“I am working on my PH.D. and I am needed by so many people. My husband always wants something done and my community expects me to help and give to them, so……”

“Well, seeing that you are so busy. I will let you go,” God responded, “but we will talk again if you have some time.” 

I went on through the days and the weeks and the months completing my tasks as always. One evening, while studying for my comp exams, I received a phone call from the hospital concerning my husband. He had been in a terrible accident and was in critical condition. I dropped everything and ran to the hospital where I found my husband hanging on for dear life. I immediately began to pray, “Dear Lord, Don’t take him now. I can’t bear it.” The next morning I left the hospital tired and weary and walked into my classroom just in time to begin my comps. As the professors began asking me questions, I opened my mouth to speak but nothing would come out. I began praying hard. I became angry with God because He wasn’t there for me. After leaving my exams, I called into work. I explained to my supervisor what had happened and she demanded I take some time off. After visiting my husband in the hospital that evening, I went home and fell into a sunken state crying and despairing. Just then I heard someone calling my name.

 

“Lord, is that you?” I asked.

“Yes, it is.” He replied. “Do you have some time?”

I lashed out in anger and resentment. “How is it that when I needed you today, you couldn’t be found? My husband is dying. I am flunking out of school and I may not have a job.”

The Lord interrupted me in my foolish speaking. “I was looking for someone to go out and speak to others about me when you cried. When I came to answer, you had moved onto something else. So, I decided to let your husband rest and keep you home for a few days. For you see, before your husband, your school or your job needs you, I NEED you. And if all of these things take you away from me, I almost have to take them away from you in order to get a moment with you.”

I calmed down and began to cry, for I remembered my prayer of wanting to go and do for the Lord.

“I just wanted to recheck with you and see if you knew of anyone that I could send to be a witness for me and tell others about me….. anyone at all?”

“With tears in my eyes and feeling so unworthy I said, “ Lord, send me, I’ll go.”  

We should never be so busy that God has to ask us if we have time for him. He gave His one and only son for us so we could have the gift of eternal life. Remember, Jesus never sinned, yet He died for our sins. We should be more than happy to do God’s work, to witness and to tell everyone we can about Jesus. Let’s not allow ourselves to be so busy that the voice of God is drowned out. Let’s also not allow ourselves to ignore God or tell Him we are too busy for Him. God is never too busy for us. We should never be too busy for Him. 

May God grant you peace, joy, love and blessings in your everyday lives.