My brother and I loved to play ball. Where we lived, there was a high hill on one side of our yard. The hill flattened out at the top where a farmer had planted a field of wheat that was tall and almost ready to be harvested.
We really liked that hill. Want to know why? Because when our balls hit the hill, they rolled right back down to us! We didn’t have to run and pick them up.
There was one ball that was my favorite. It was a blue ball. One day I hit that ball so hard it landed in that field of wheat. Both of us ran up to the top of the hill and looked and looked for that ball in the wheat field, but we couldn’t find it. I was a little bit sad because my favorite ball was lost in that big field of tall wheat.
The only ball left for us to play with was a golf ball. It was better than no ball, but we sure wished we had something better. As my brother and I talked about it, we decided we could pray about finding the blue ball. We both knew that God knew exactly where that ball was. We stood there together and prayed, asking Him to help us find the blue ball. “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:88Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8)).
In the meantime, we had the golf ball to play with. Now golf balls really fly when you hit them. One of us hit the golf ball really hard, and we watched that ball fly—up, up, up to the top of the hill and, you guessed it, right into the wheat field! We ran up the hill as fast as we could, now to try to find the golf ball.
Pretty soon my brother yelled excitedly, “Hey, come here! Look at this!”
“Two balls!” I yelled. And there was the golf ball on the ground nestled right beside my blue ball! We jumped up and down with joy!
We picked up both balls and started down the hill happily and with thanksgiving in our hearts, as we talked about our answer to prayer. It couldn’t have been plainer. We both knew all over again that, yes, God answers prayers—even children’s prayers! And we never forgot it.
The Apostle Paul told the Christians who lived in Philippi to “be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:66Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6)). That’s a really good idea, isn’t it?
ML-10/13/2013