Keep Praying
Dear friends and family of Hilton Baptist Church,
I felt a bit foolish. As I was praying, and heard the words that were actually coming out of my mouth, I thought to myself “This is ridiculous. Certainly, God has bigger issues to deal with than this. I am being silly and this is absurd”. Let me give you some context to this prayer I was praying.
If you have been to my home you may remember seeing a Koi fish pond. The pond sits off a stone patio behind our house. Karen and I love this little pond. The waterfall is relaxing and also helps to drown out our sometimes-noisy neighbors. We also find enjoyment feeding the Koi fish and watching them swim around. It seems strange to admit that one can actually grow attached to a fish, but they do bring amusement and simple pleasure into our lives.
Last week we found one of our friends on its side floating, then sinking, floating then sinking. This was our biggest fish and one of our favorites. Obviously the poor little, or not so little, guy was on his last fin. It was hard to watch him suffer and even harder not knowing how to help. This led to a prayer on behalf of the fish and the prayer led me to feeling foolish.
Who prays for a fish?! Doesn’t God have bigger “fish to fry” in this world? Wasn’t I just simply being ridiculous? Certainly, God wasn’t interested in such a silly prayer.
And then I remembered a few things. Didn’t Jesus tell us we should have the faith of child? Doesn’t 1 Peter 5:7 say “Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you”? Would a child hesitate to talk to God about a dying fish? Would Peter have told us to give God all our burdens if he didn’t mean it?
Sometimes I wonder if we are too logical for our own good. God has said no burden is too big and no concern is too small, why do we doubt that? Perhaps God invites us to talk to Him about the small things so we learn how to talk about the bigger things? Or perhaps it is not even that complicated. Maybe God just desires to be a part of our everyday lives, which sometimes means talking to Him about something as silly as a dying fish.
So, I invite and challenge all of us to have the faith and trust of a child. To pray prayers that are not childish, but rather, childlike. After all, our faith is not placed in the one saying the prayer. Our faith is placed in the One who hears our prayer.
Keep Praying. Dan
Categories: Pastors Message