Saturday, September 20, 2003
Saturday, September 20, 2003
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it
will be done for you.
"Why not pray for an egg?" suggested a young friend. They were a church-going family, but the
idea of actually praying for their needs was something they had never really considered.
Josephine wasted no time. On her knees she prayed that God would provide an egg each
morning for her daughter.
Later that morning Josephine heard some cackling coming from the hedge fence in front of their
home. Among the bare branches sat a fat red hen. She had never seen this hen before and
had no idea where it came from. She just watched in amazement as the hen laid an egg and
then proceeded down the road. In a moment the hen was gone but an egg sat in her yard.
What do you do under such circumstances but thank God? The next day Josephine was
startled once again to hear cackling in the hedge. The red hen came by every day for over a
week and repeated this routine. Each day little Rachel had a fresh boiled egg. The little girl got
better, the weather improved, and Josephine's husband went back to work. "The next morning I
waited by the window and watched," Josephine says, but the little red hen did not return.
Will you talk to Jesus in prayer about your needs?
(John 15.7
NRSV)
During the winter of 1940 Josephine Kuntz' husband, a house painter and textile worker, was
temporarily unemployed because of the weather and a seasonal lay-off. It was a difficult time for
the family. They literally had no money. Their eighteen-month-old daughter, Rachel, was
recovering from pneumonia and wasn't doing well. The doctor insisted Rachel eat a boiled egg
each day, but even that was beyond their means.
Dear God, help me to discern my needs from my wants. Amen.
