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Have you ever apologized to God for bringing your “small” requests? I know I have! When you hear of such suffering, how can you ask God to take away your headache? How can I ask for trivial things when the people of Haiti are dealing with starvation and plagues? There is always someone who needs the Lord’s attention more than I do, so I am glad that I am not put on a waiting list. I don’t hear Him say, “Go ahead, take a number and I will get to you after I take care of the horrible stuff”. Where would even my most desperate prayers place in importance, considering the world’s problems? Can you imagine if he said, “take a number” and it read “123,536,785,3098”? Wow, I can get shaken up if I have ten ahead of me at the driving license facility.
As I read my bible, there are all kinds of requests for help and healing by Jesus. I see the woman who could only touch the edge of his robe for healing because there were so many people ahead of her, but that was all it took. She was healed! I see Jairus plead for the life of his twelve-year-old daughter, only to get news that she had died. At this announcement Jesus told this grieving father, “Don’t be afraid, just believe and she will be healed”. She was healed! We read of the blind that had their sight restored, lepers who found themselves cleansed and the demon possessed who were rescued from their tormentors. All healed! How can some of my requests even compare to problems of this magnitude? I have some “Jairus” sized requests and long for answers, but I also have those “not so big” requests as well! Fortunately, I have a God that cares about them all. There are no lines when we try to get to the Lord. We don’t have to take a number and wait for Him to listen. We don’t have to apologize for talking to our Father about anything, even small things.
As a mother, I am blessed to have my children come to me, even as adults, asking me to pray for their needs. Sometimes their problems are insignificant and sometimes they are huge. Sometimes they need healing and covet my prayers, but sometimes encouragement is all they need. I want them to see that it always open my arms and my heart because I am their Mom and there is no higher privilege. Our heavenly Father also waits with open arms and a loving heart. He hears His children and is eager to talk with us. He longs to put us first on the list with no waiting!
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened for you." (Luke 11:9 ESV)
Jeanie Nihiser
Author, Prayer Warrior, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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