Raju was a smart little boy. He was naughty and playful. He loved playing games and cricket was his favourite. Even on school days, he would play cricket until it was time to get ready for school. Or sometimes he would get up very late, rush through his homework that he had forgotten to do the previous evening and would almost run to school to reach on time. He often forgot his morning prayers which, as days went by, even came to a stop.
But Raju never realized that he was becoming more and more disorganized due to lack of planning. Raju’s grandfather, an austere disciplinarian, had been watching Raju for some time and decided to set things right. He knew that Raju was interested in Science and related inventions. He also knew that Raju nurtured an aspiration to become a scientist in future. So grandpa decided to play on that front to bring Raju in line.
One Sunday morning… it was raining outside. Raju was forced to stay indoors. He spent the time chatting with his grandpa.
“Raju, what do you want to be in future?”
“Grandpa, you know that I want to be a scientist”.
“Well, then do you know that many great scientists and inventors believed in God and prayers? Amidst their busy schedule, they would always find time to pray. Let me tell you a secret. These scientists and inventors realized that their prayers helped them and they were able to find solutions to complex problems without much difficulty that eventually led to their valuable inventions.”
“Really, grandpa? Wow! Great! I didn’t know that”. Then grandpa proceeded to tell Raju an interesting anecdote that had happened in Louis Pasteur’s life. Grandpa explained how a young college student, during a train journey, had insulted his co-passenger (Louis Pasteur) who was praying with Rosary* in his hands. The student, without knowing the true identity of his co-passenger, insulted the old man by saying that he was wasting his time in prayers. However, the student later realized that his co-passenger was Louis Pasteur, the great scientist and apologized profusely to him.
Raju listened to the story with awe. “Raju, do you know that Louis Pasteur had absolute faith in God and Eternity without which, he believed, he would not have achieved what he had, in the field of science. The power of prayers is such. We just have to do our duty of praying and leave the rest in the hands of God”, grandpa finished with a subtle note.
“Grandpa, now I understand. I will start doing my prayers from today, right away!”. Raju ran inside the house. Grandpa knew that his prayers had been answered!
A farmer had two daughters. The elder one was married to a farmer. The younger daughter was married to a potter. The father used to visit his daughters frequently. During one of his visits, the elder daughter requested him to pray for more frequent rains as their growing crops were badly in need of water. He agreed. Then he visited his younger daughter. She told him that they wanted more sunshine to get their clay pots dried in the sun for hardening. She wanted him to pray for more sunshine without any rain. The poor father was in great confusion as his daughters were demanding his prayers for contradictory gifts. Finally he took a bold decision and prayed, “God, do as you wish. May your will be done!”
A child may see a sharp and shining knife and cry to get it as a toy. But no loving parent will give such a dangerous gift to a little child. This explains why many of our prayers are not answered immediately. God, as our loving father, knows our future and grants only those gifts which we deserve.
Richard. C. Trench remarked, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance but co-operating with His willingness”. God has plans to bring us prosperity and not disaster. In prayers it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. The fewer the words, the better is the prayer. The family that prays together stays together.
While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital.
Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time witnessed to him of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.
Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, “Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.” At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, 26 guards. “My five friends also saw them and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid, and left you alone.”
At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened. The missionary told the church congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story: “On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?” The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with who they were — he was to busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.
**This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If you ever feel such prodding, go along with it. Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell. I encourage you to forward this to as many people as you know. If we all take it to heart, we can turn this world towards Christ once again. Have a great day!**
THE POWER OF PRAYER — as the above true story clearly illustrates, “with God all things are possible” and more importantly, how God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful. After you read this, please pause and give God thanks for the beautiful gift of your faith, for the powerful gift of prayer, and for the many miracles He works in your own daily life… and then pass it on…
Superb
Every one should read it and practically follow it
yes sir