Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Is there some kind of prayer that we can be sure God will be delighted to answer? Jesus has responded to that question in the story He told in Luke 11. It's a lesson about prayer, and it illustrates what one inspired writer describes as "a divine science in prayer." Pray this kind of a prayer, Jesus says in effect, and Heaven will rush to your aid.
It's asking the Lord to give you some bread, not because you are hungry, but because you want to give it to some other person who is hungry. It's "asking to give." You are praying that you can be the transmission agent in communicating to others a blessing that comes from God. To change the metaphor, you are asking that you might become a pipe through which will flow the water of life to some thirsty soul. Here's the story:
"Suppose one of you should go to a friend's house at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don't have any food for him!' And suppose your friend should answer from inside, 'Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' ... I say to you: Ask and you will receive. ... Everyone who asks will receive. ... You know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (vss. 1-11, Good News Bible). And the underlying idea is that you are asking for "bread" for that hungry person that the Lord has brought you in touch with.
Instead of praying that some pastor somewhere or some TV evangelist will "feed" this person (we spend an enormous amount of time praying that someone else will do what the Lord wants us to do!), pray that the Lord will give you some "bread" for that person, some thought that comes through your own personal heart that will "feed" his soul. It will be more effective than anything the TV evangelist can say. And a great blessing will rub off on you in the transmission process.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 26, 2004.
Copyright © 2014 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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