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G God, faithfulness of
It had been raining nonstop for several days. In frustration, a young girl uttered a prayer: "Dear God, why did You let it rain today?"
Her mom listened, bemused. After a minute or so of silence, she asked the girl, "Well, what did He say?"
The girl replied, "He's thinking…"
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We can know that, even if we do not immediately hear the answer to our prayers, God has heard and has already begun to act.
James 5:16: "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."
Source: Mature Living, August 1998, p. 6.
Topics/Tags: Prayer; God, faithfulness of
There was a person who was asleep one night in their cabin when suddenly the person felt a definite calling from the Lord. In the vision the Lord told the person that God had a work for that person to do, and showed the person a large rock near the cabin. The Lord explained that the person was to push against the rock with all their strength. This the person did, day after day. Every day the person would pray to be able to accomplish the task. For many years the person toiled from sun up to sun down, their shoulder set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all their strength. Each night the person returned to the cabin sore and worn out, feeling that the whole day had been spent in vain.
The person started showing signs of discouragement, saying, "I have been pushing against this rock for a long time and it hasn’t budged. I am never going to move it. Why kill myself over this?" And the person thought, "I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough. My prayers don’t seem to be working, so I will put little effort into that as well."
And the person planned to do that until one day the person decided to pray once more, this time in utter hopelessness, to the Lord, "Lord, I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. I have prayed persistently. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your physical strength has greatly increased. You determination and resolve has been heightened. Your prayer life has been deepened. You would have had none of these things had the task come easy. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock.
"But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and to trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock."
Source: Stephen Portner, Lightstreet United Methodist Church near Bloomsburg, Penn., USA
Topics/Tags: God, faithfulness of; Persistence; Discipline; Determination
God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, and acts with a hand that never fails.
- Unknown
Source: PULPIT HELPS, July, 1991
Topics/Tags: God, faithfulness of; Assurance
One winter "our family was still stuck in slush, raw wind and freezing drizzle when our daughter Lauri said, 'Dad, do you suppose this will be the year that the trees will not leaf out and the tulips won't come up and the lilacs won't bloom?'
"We were quiet for a few seconds, and then together we laughed out loud. What an impossible idea! Given all of human history--the fall of civilizations, wars, personal tragedies, cancers, airplane crashes--one unfailing constant is that spring always follows winter. Always!
"I suppose that people living [in other climates] have their own reminders and symbols; but for me, spring is the annual reminder that if all else seems to fail, God will never leave me or forsake me."
-- Jay Kesler
Source: Decision, April 1997, p. 42.
Topics/Tags: Spring; Seasons; God, faithfulness of
"No one has ever MADE more promises than God, no one has ever KEPT more promises than God, and no one has ever been more FAITHFUL than God."
-- Ronnie Floyd
Source: Ronnie Floyd, "The Power of Prayer and Fasting," p. 132.
Topics/Tags: God, power of; Promises; God, faithfulness of
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