Saturday, March 9, 2002
Saturday, March 9, 2002
"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and
pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I
tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut
the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will
reward you."
I don't think many of us have to worry about putting on a show with our prayers. In fact, just the
opposite is probably true. We probably do not pray enough. And that is sad. Prayer makes a
difference. Recent research suggests that people who are prayed for are helped by those
prayers even if they do not know someone is praying.
Prayer is a fascinating phenomenon. A missionary in Romania tells about his cat that was
caught up a tree. Suddenly a bright idea struck the missionary! By tying the wispy branches of
the tree to the bumper of his car and slowly driving forward, he could bend the top branches
enough to reach his terrified, precious kitten. Carefully, the brave rescuer executed the brilliant
plan. However, just as he reached for his furry friend, the rope holding the tree snapped and
the wide-eyed, frozen kitty flew through the air as though catapulted into space.
What to do? After a fruitless search, the dejected missionary gave the care of his cat into the
hands of his creator. While shopping not many days later, the pastor bumped into the grocery
cart of a woman from his church. Knowing her reputation for disliking cats, he commented on
the fact that she had cat food in her basket.
"You'll never believe what happened!" replied the woman. "My little girl has been begging me
for a kitten for months and I continually responded that we have no need for a cat. She has
such love for animals, and one day when she again asked for her very own cat, I told her that I
would not get a cat for her, but if God gave her one, she could keep it."
"Satisfied with the answer, my daughter ran into the backyard, got down on her knees, closed
her eyes tightly and prayed, 'Dear God, please send me a kitty of my very own to love and
care for. Amen.'"
"She opened her eyes, and what do you think she saw? A little kitten with paws outstretched
flying through the air. It landed right in front of my daughter and has been part of our family
ever since!"
God doesn't always answer our prayers like that, but prayer must be an important part of our
lives.
(Matthew 6.5-6
NRSV)
"And when you pray," says Jesus, "do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have
received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to
your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward
you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be
heard because of their many words."
Dear God, help me as I strengthen my relationship with you through prayer. Amen.
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