When Robby was a little boy, he wanted to be a cowboy. He
spent countless hours in front of the television watching reruns of Gunsmoke
and Bonanza. He just knew that someday he would live on a ranch, wear a big
cowboy hat, and ride the range just like all his cowboy heroes. When he was
seven years old, Robby said, “Dad, I want to be a cowboy when I grow up. Will
you help me be a cowboy?”
“Sure,
son,” said his dad, smiling down at his little cowpoke.
As the years went by, Robby grew into a fine young man. As
you might expect, he outgrew his childhood fantasy of becoming a cowboy and
turned instead to girls, sports, studying and preparing himself for a career in
the business world.
One day Robby
went to his father again and said, “Dad, I want to go to college and get a good
education. Will you help me?”
His dad
said, “COLLEGE? Son, you can’t go to college. When you were seven, you said you
wanted to be a cowboy. So I bought you a ranch with 100 head of cattle! There’s
no money to send you to college, besides, you need to take care of that ranch.
It’s all yours.”
“But DAD!”
said Robby. “I was just a child when I said that! I didn’t know then what I
know now! I don’t want a ranch! I want an education!”
Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t answer your prayers
exactly the way you want Him to? Maybe it’s because we’re like Robby, and we
don’t always know what’s best for us. There may be times in life when you feel
that God is not listening, that He seems to not even care. Instead of grumbling
about unanswered prayers, we should be thankful God doesn’t always answer our
prayers the way we think He should.
God gives us promises throughout the Bible to remind us of His
care for us and of His desire for us to pray to Him. God does not ignore our prayers.(Psalm
9:12 ) God honors
persistence in praying (Matthew 7:7) God hears our prayers when they are in
line with His will (1 John 5:14 -15).
A sincere prayer brings wonderful results (James 5:16 ).
God knows who you are, better than you know yourself and He
also knows your needs. God knows if you are in need physically, He knows if you
are distressed emotionally, He knows if you are empty spiritually, and He knows
if you are struggling to understand life and all of the demands within. The
promise of God in 1 Peter 5:7 is “Cast all your anxiety (cares, worries,
problems) on Him because He cares for you.”
Now just maybe, you are not familiar with prayer, and you
would like to learn more about prayer. Maybe you would like someone to pray
with you, or you have a need that someone could pray for you about. We would
love to pray with you and for you. Please
contact 250.769.5481 or email to pastor@westsidealliance.com if
you would like us to pray. You are also welcome to join us every Sunday at Westside
Alliance Church at 10 AM for our church service.
