Barking babble?

(02-07–22)– Unanswered Prayer! – Matthew 6:7-8

May I ask you a question? Sometimes when we pray and prayers go unanswered, could it be we're knocking on a door God isn't prepared to open?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

Recently I celebrated a birthday. Along with the usual cards, family gathering and gifts, this year I celebrated in a very unusual way. I woke quite early that birthday morning and the house felt a bit cold. So I pulled on my robe and parked my feet into a pair of slippers and shuffled downstairs to our Great Room to put some wood in the wood stove and get a fire going. Unfortunately, the night before I had failed to get wood in from the garage and now I was staring at an empty log cart. So I rolled the cart out to the garage shutting the door behind me. You guessed it; I locked myself out. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been so bad except that it was 5o outside with a wind chill about 15o colder. I knew that there was a key to a deck door, carefully hidden, but I would have to trudge through deep snow to get to that particular door. I did and when I got there the key didn't turn the lock. So, I decided to bang on the door in an effort to rouse Holly or Dan still asleep. It didn't work. Finally the key turned the lock and I made it in out of the cold. Later Holly commented that it would have been far wiser of me had I knocked on Dan's bedroom window then stood on a deck, a good distance away, banging on a door. She was right. Thank goodness for me the key DID turn that lock.

Sometimes when we pray and prayers go unanswered, could it be we're knocking on a door God isn't prepared to open?

Here's a story. Warren Wiersbe writes: "In October, 1983, I was painting a neighbor's home. They had a small black dog that would go to the back door and bark and bark until someone finally got the message and let it out. One day I was there, painting the outside of the home, while everyone else was gone. Their little dog, however, took up his station at the back door and barked incessantly all day. The sad thing was that it never dawned in his little brain that all his barking was totally useless–no one was home to hear!" (Warren Wiersbe, Famous Unanswered Prayers)

Scriptures tell us that when we pray we ought not to babble on with many words thinking that God would be impressed with our "prayer show." That's like knocking on a door and no one is there to hear it. Like that barking dog, wordy and lengthy prayers become nothing more than noise, useless to us and silent to God. He doesn't hear babbling and isn't impressed with our ability to speak many words. It is true that we can never pray too much. It is also true that we CAN pray without sincerity, believing that the words are magic, casting a prayer spell on God He can't resist. Are you knock- ing on a prayer door God is not there to open? Try brevity and repetition with sincerity; it might just be the window God is looking to open, if only you make the wise choice to find it.

We pray. Heavenly Father, forgive us when our wordy and lengthy prayers become nothing more than noise, useless to us and silent to You. We know that You don’t hear babbling and aren’t impressed with our ability to speak many words. Teach us by Your Spirit to pray often, but with sincerity, believing that the words are not magic, and they won’t cast an irresistible prayer spell on You. When we knock on a prayer door we know that it is open, when we employ brevity and repetition with sincerity. Help us to make the wise choice to find that open door. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.

Barking babble?

(02-07–22)– Unanswered Prayer! – Matthew 6:7-8

May I ask you a question? Sometimes when we pray and prayers go unanswered, could it be we're knocking on a door God isn't prepared to open?

My friend, Life’s a story, welcome to This Passing Day.

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

Recently I celebrated a birthday. Along with the usual cards, family gathering and gifts, this year I celebrated in a very unusual way. I woke quite early that birthday morning and the house felt a bit cold. So I pulled on my robe and parked my feet into a pair of slippers and shuffled downstairs to our Great Room to put some wood in the wood stove and get a fire going. Unfortunately, the night before I had failed to get wood in from the garage and now I was staring at an empty log cart. So I rolled the cart out to the garage shutting the door behind me. You guessed it; I locked myself out. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been so bad except that it was 5o outside with a wind chill about 15o colder. I knew that there was a key to a deck door, carefully hidden, but I would have to trudge through deep snow to get to that particular door. I did and when I got there the key didn't turn the lock. So, I decided to bang on the door in an effort to rouse Holly or Dan still asleep. It didn't work. Finally the key turned the lock and I made it in out of the cold. Later Holly commented that it would have been far wiser of me had I knocked on Dan's bedroom window then stood on a deck, a good distance away, banging on a door. She was right. Thank goodness for me the key DID turn that lock.

Sometimes when we pray and prayers go unanswered, could it be we're knocking on a door God isn't prepared to open?

Here's a story. Warren Wiersbe writes: "In October, 1983, I was painting a neighbor's home. They had a small black dog that would go to the back door and bark and bark until someone finally got the message and let it out. One day I was there, painting the outside of the home, while everyone else was gone. Their little dog, however, took up his station at the back door and barked incessantly all day. The sad thing was that it never dawned in his little brain that all his barking was totally useless–no one was home to hear!" (Warren Wiersbe, Famous Unanswered Prayers)

Scriptures tell us that when we pray we ought not to babble on with many words thinking that God would be impressed with our "prayer show." That's like knocking on a door and no one is there to hear it. Like that barking dog, wordy and lengthy prayers become nothing more than noise, useless to us and silent to God. He doesn't hear babbling and isn't impressed with our ability to speak many words. It is true that we can never pray too much. It is also true that we CAN pray without sincerity, believing that the words are magic, casting a prayer spell on God He can't resist. Are you knock- ing on a prayer door God is not there to open? Try brevity and repetition with sincerity; it might just be the window God is looking to open, if only you make the wise choice to find it.

We pray. Heavenly Father, forgive us when our wordy and lengthy prayers become nothing more than noise, useless to us and silent to You. We know that You don’t hear babbling and aren’t impressed with our ability to speak many words. Teach us by Your Spirit to pray often, but with sincerity, believing that the words are not magic, and they won’t cast an irresistible prayer spell on You. When we knock on a prayer door we know that it is open, when we employ brevity and repetition with sincerity. Help us to make the wise choice to find that open door. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

Therefore my friend, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry for itself; each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt 6:34) This Passing Day. May this passing day honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be a blessing to you and everyone you meet. Find a stranger and say hello. Don't let another day pass without your day blessing someone else.

If you have a special prayer request, please send your request to ”This Passing Day!”

<thispassingday@gmail.com> From Beech Springs, God bless you for Jesus sake.