When You Pray

     One time while witnessing to a woman who was recently divorced,
she told me that she had tried to pray but God didn't answer her
prayers.  She had been raised in a Christian home but she had not paid
much attention to God until she got into trouble in her marriage.

    As I thought about her disappointment and what I could say to her
about why God didn't rush to help her, I thought, "Why should He?"  If
she didn't have time for God, then why should He put himself out for
her?  Sure God loves us, but He is not someone that we can order
around just to suit our whims.  He is rather our Father.  And as any
parent, in His love He responds to help his children more readily when
they are obedient and loving to Him.

    Isaiah 58:13,14 sums it up by saying, "If you turn away your foot
from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call
the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall
honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor
speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed
you with the heritage of Jacob your father.  The mouth of the Lord has
spoken."

    I once had a friend who steadfastly refused to even listen to the
radio or watch t.v. on Sunday as He wanted to be in a proper frame of
mind to worship God without being hindered by worldly thoughts.  I
have never gone that far but it is good that we always put the Lord
ahead of worldly pursuits.

    Of course some worship on Saturday, as the Sabbath, and some on
Sunday the day of our Lord's resurrection and some consider every day
as an equal opportunity to serve Him.  But whichever the day, what
counts is the state of our heart.  Being thankful to our loving Father
and God.  If we will pay attention to Him and the things of God, He
hears our prayers and will open the way for us through our problems
through His Son Jesus Christ.


Frank Cooke