"Prayer is the lever that can exert a force much greater than its size. It's a fulcrum that tilts our circumstances grace-ward. It's a wedge that allows us to open doors and to exert influence. It's a pulley that lifts us upward while simultaneously drawing down the provision of heaven. It's the axle on which the abundant life turns. What a tool is prayer!"
Recently I read the story of John and Mina Clark who were serving in the Belgian Congo, as it was called then, with the Africa Inland Mission (now AIM International). One day Mina became ill with a dangerously high fever. In her delirium, she kept crying, "I want three ripe tomatoes, John! I want three ripe tomatoes."
There were no tomatoes in that region. No one had yet heard of them. John fell to his knees and prayed earnestly for his wife, asking for healing and begging God to send a doctor. He also spoke to the Lord about those tomatoes.
The next day, a tribesman and a neighborhood woman knocked at the door. The woman carried a basket covered by a banana leaf. After casual conversation, the visitors got down to the reason for their visit. Some time earlier a traveler had left the woman some seeds. She planted them, and the bush had borne fruit. But she was afraid of the produce, not knowing if these strange-looking spheres were edible or poisonous. John lifted the banana leaf to see--you guessed it--three ripe tomatoes. Seeing his delight, the visiting woman said, "You can have those. We have lots of them at home."
John took them right into Mina who devoured them; and shortly thereafter the doctor arrived ahead of schedule. Mina was soon on the road to recovery, and John never knew whether it was the tomatoes or the doctor-- but in either case, it was an answer to prayer.
The Lord's answers aren't always that instant and dramatic, but they are always as wisely bestowed. The Bible says, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. and if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have asked of Him" (1 John 5:14-15).
One of our greatest benefits is the privilege and power of prayer, for on the cross Jesus opened the way for us to approach the throne of grace with boldness.
Your Benefits Package by Dr David Jeremiah
Recently I read the story of John and Mina Clark who were serving in the Belgian Congo, as it was called then, with the Africa Inland Mission (now AIM International). One day Mina became ill with a dangerously high fever. In her delirium, she kept crying, "I want three ripe tomatoes, John! I want three ripe tomatoes."
There were no tomatoes in that region. No one had yet heard of them. John fell to his knees and prayed earnestly for his wife, asking for healing and begging God to send a doctor. He also spoke to the Lord about those tomatoes.
The next day, a tribesman and a neighborhood woman knocked at the door. The woman carried a basket covered by a banana leaf. After casual conversation, the visitors got down to the reason for their visit. Some time earlier a traveler had left the woman some seeds. She planted them, and the bush had borne fruit. But she was afraid of the produce, not knowing if these strange-looking spheres were edible or poisonous. John lifted the banana leaf to see--you guessed it--three ripe tomatoes. Seeing his delight, the visiting woman said, "You can have those. We have lots of them at home."
John took them right into Mina who devoured them; and shortly thereafter the doctor arrived ahead of schedule. Mina was soon on the road to recovery, and John never knew whether it was the tomatoes or the doctor-- but in either case, it was an answer to prayer.
The Lord's answers aren't always that instant and dramatic, but they are always as wisely bestowed. The Bible says, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. and if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have asked of Him" (1 John 5:14-15).
One of our greatest benefits is the privilege and power of prayer, for on the cross Jesus opened the way for us to approach the throne of grace with boldness.
Your Benefits Package by Dr David Jeremiah
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