Weighty?

(10.27.21–You Have To Pray! –1 Timothy 6:17)

My friend, may I ask you a question? Did you known there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer? Really! Does God’s Word tells us that He hears every prayer, and all sent to Him in Jesus name are not only heard but are granted?

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

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

Is God a generalist or is He interested in specifics? I grew up, frankly, believing that God was a generalist. There were a number of reasons for this. First, since God had not only the whole world to take care of, he had the entire universe, He didn’t have the time to stop and consider the details of creating, judging, guiding and supervising. The details were, somehow, miraculously tied up in the overall picture, I thought. Another reason I suppose that I thought God was a generalist was that I was of the opinion that God was too holy, too awesome, to take a mere mortal like myself that seriously. "Oh, here’s that Brunner kid asking for a bike again. He should know that I have better things to do." If God really was a generalist, my prayers, I felt, should also be general. Let God fill in the blanks, I thought. How pretentious of me to specify what I needed or wanted?

The problem is, if specificity is not our aim in prayer, how seriously do we hold prayer in the first place? Why bother to pray at all if our prayers hold such little weight with God?

Here's a story: Did you ever hear the story of the grocery store owner tried to weigh a prayer? As it seems, one day a tired-looking woman came into the store and asked for enough food to make a dinner for her children. The grocer asked her how much she could spend. The frail woman answered, "I have nothing to offer but a little prayer." The storekeeper was not very sentimental nor religious, so he said, half-mockingly, "Write it on paper, and I'll weigh it." So she did. The grocer placed the prayer on the weight side of his old-fashioned scales. Then he began piling food on the other side; but to his amazement, the scale would not go down. He finally became flustered and gave the woman a large bag of food. The grocer never saw the woman again, but he treasures the slip of paper upon which the woman's prayer had been writ- ten; the title scrawled across the top of the yellowed piece of paper: "Please, Lord, give us this day our daily bread." (Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.)

I believe that our prayers do hold weight with God and this little story illustrates that rather dramatically. The Bible tells us that God is a God who "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6;17). That being the case, He must not be a generalist since what I might enjoy and what you might enjoy or need, for that matter, might be very different. No, God is looking for specifics and He's not shy about either being asked or, for that matter, exactly providing the specifics we ask for. When it comes to our God, He's looking for boldness and not shyness. Be specific and believe.

We pray. Heavenly Father, You are a God who "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6;17). That being the case, You O God must not be a generalist since what I might enjoy and what someone else might enjoy or need, might be very different. No, You are looking for specifics and You are not shy about either being asked or, for that matter, exactly providing the specifics we ask for. We are thankful that You are looking for boldness and not shyness. Help us therefore to be specific and believe. In Jesus name we pray—for sure. 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.

Weighty?

(10.27.21–You Have To Pray! –1 Timothy 6:17)

My friend, may I ask you a question? Did you known there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer? Really! Does God’s Word tells us that He hears every prayer, and all sent to Him in Jesus name are not only heard but are granted?

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

I'm M. Clifford Brunner.

Is God a generalist or is He interested in specifics? I grew up, frankly, believing that God was a generalist. There were a number of reasons for this. First, since God had not only the whole world to take care of, he had the entire universe, He didn’t have the time to stop and consider the details of creating, judging, guiding and supervising. The details were, somehow, miraculously tied up in the overall picture, I thought. Another reason I suppose that I thought God was a generalist was that I was of the opinion that God was too holy, too awesome, to take a mere mortal like myself that seriously. "Oh, here’s that Brunner kid asking for a bike again. He should know that I have better things to do." If God really was a generalist, my prayers, I felt, should also be general. Let God fill in the blanks, I thought. How pretentious of me to specify what I needed or wanted?

The problem is, if specificity is not our aim in prayer, how seriously do we hold prayer in the first place? Why bother to pray at all if our prayers hold such little weight with God?

Here's a story: Did you ever hear the story of the grocery store owner tried to weigh a prayer? As it seems, one day a tired-looking woman came into the store and asked for enough food to make a dinner for her children. The grocer asked her how much she could spend. The frail woman answered, "I have nothing to offer but a little prayer." The storekeeper was not very sentimental nor religious, so he said, half-mockingly, "Write it on paper, and I'll weigh it." So she did. The grocer placed the prayer on the weight side of his old-fashioned scales. Then he began piling food on the other side; but to his amazement, the scale would not go down. He finally became flustered and gave the woman a large bag of food. The grocer never saw the woman again, but he treasures the slip of paper upon which the woman's prayer had been writ- ten; the title scrawled across the top of the yellowed piece of paper: "Please, Lord, give us this day our daily bread." (Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.)

I believe that our prayers do hold weight with God and this little story illustrates that rather dramatically. The Bible tells us that God is a God who "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6;17). That being the case, He must not be a generalist since what I might enjoy and what you might enjoy or need, for that matter, might be very different. No, God is looking for specifics and He's not shy about either being asked or, for that matter, exactly providing the specifics we ask for. When it comes to our God, He's looking for boldness and not shyness. Be specific and believe.

We pray. Heavenly Father, You are a God who "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment" (1 Timothy 6;17). That being the case, You O God must not be a generalist since what I might enjoy and what someone else might enjoy or need, might be very different. No, You are looking for specifics and You are not shy about either being asked or, for that matter, exactly providing the specifics we ask for. We are thankful that You are looking for boldness and not shyness. Help us therefore to be specific and believe. In Jesus name we pray—for sure. 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.