Answers
January 12If you look very closely, you will see in the water what is either the head of a beaver or a muskrat. This creature has made his daily jaunts in front of our dock for a couple years now. My curiosity is always peaked when I see him, but his pace is slow and steady so I seldom watch for long. I've always assumed he is headed to an uninhabited area north of our property for some sort of daily work and then swims home at the end of the day to around ten acres SE of us which also have no home or dock. Never have I taken time to actually wait and see where he goes. Yesterday, around 3:30 looking out of my shower window I spotted him. The Holy Spirit impressed upon me how much our prayer lives can be like me watching this critter. At first our interest is peaked and we launch into a prayer time with the Lord. Usually the process progresses slowly and we lose interest, either assuming we can't really hear from the Lord or not really believing He will answer our desires.
Grabbing my towel, I picked up my camera and headed to our screen porch. I was freezing and so I ran back in and slipped on a pair of my husband's shoes which were close by and threw a blanket, which was draped across a chair, around my shoulders. My husband questioned, "And what are you up to?" "I'll explain in a minute," I replied.
Total amazement set in as that little fellow took a right turn and proceeded right down the center of our cove, never decreasing his pace. I became a bit leery when I thought he possibly has been encamped on our property somewhere all these years. Maybe that is who Moses is barking at around 3AM each night. Within minutes the trees blocked my view and my attire was not suited for venturing out into the freezing temperatures and the ice capped lawn for a better look. So like many of our prayers....I am still waiting for answers but I have faith that one of these days I will know! Like many of our prayers, I will most likely forget about it until another event brings this situation back to mind.
Earlier that day I had been studying in Luke about some individuals with incredible faith. It made me think about the families of the victims in Arizona, as well as the medical personnel who have been attending to them. In one interview a doctor said when Christina Taylor-Green arrived at the hospital she was dead, but they attempted to resuscitate her and even performed surgery. That's faith and compassion!
Luke 8:48 has an amazing quote which Jesus makes to the woman who believed so strongly in Christ's powers to heal that she simply reached out and touched his robe.
Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. Jairus was a grieving father whose daughter had died. Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, 'Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.'
Billy Graham says in his book Unto These Hills:
"Many of us want to do a work for God, but few of us want to spend hours in prayer to God. It goes against our natural inclinations to pray, which is precisely why prayer counts so much with God. It is unnatural. It is, in fact, supernatural! And it always gets God's attention.
I am sometimes amused when people tell me, 'God answered my prayer.' What that means is that God gave them what they asked for. But if He had not granted their request, He would still have answered their prayer. We forget that 'No' and 'Wait' are also answers, as is 'Yes.' I have answered every request made by my children to me. The answer has not always been what they wanted, but is has always been what in accordance with what I have thought was best for them at the time...And remember, whether prayer changes our situation or not, one thing is certain: Prayer will change us!"
In Luke 17:5 the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith!"
May that be our prayer today!
