“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Words of Jesus recorded by Mark, found in Mark 11:24 NKJ

I would like to share an experience I had yesterday afternoon. I live in a rural Missouri town of about five thousand people. Some time after noon I decided to ride my bicycle to the town square and go to the deli in the local grocery store for a bite to eat. As I walked back to the deli I saw a guy named Gary who I hadn’t seen in a year or so. Gary is a man in his thirties who I have observed over the years to go from job to job, relationship to relationship, and from church to church. Gary is a good person, he is a Christian, he is not alcoholic or addicted to drugs, he is just different. I noticed that Gary was having a hard time with concentration and I asked, and he told me he was on some medication. When I first saw Gary I saw that he was walking slowly. As I got closer I saw that he was pretty banged up. He had some bumps on his head and a black eye. Being the day after Christmas I thought to myself, what a Christmas present. Gary said that his girlfriends parents had beaten him up and threw him out Christmas night. He was despondent. It was the middle of the night, his back was hurt and he found himself on a rural highway twenty miles from town. As he walked the sheriff came along and gave him a ride to the city police station, there he spent the night. Several people made phone calls for Gary but there was no one to help him. His mother lives forty miles south and had no car to come get him, but she knew where he was. I asked Gary if he wanted something to eat and he declined. I told him that he needed to call the Ministerial Alliance and ask for help, he walked back to the police station and they told him he couldn’t make personal calls there. As I finished my lunch, Gary came back to the deli and asked if I could make a few phone calls for him on my cell phone, I said yes. We began to call places that might help, the first was some churches and they said that they only help with gas money these days, this is to help with stranded motorist. Next Gary gave me a number of someone at the Employment Office that he knew and might offer help, they were closed being the day after Christmas. Next we called Social Services for someone he knew there, they also were closed. Not knowing what to do from that point on, I asked, “Gary have you prayed?” He just looked at me. My question to myself this morning is why do I wait until there is nothing else to do before I pray? I reached across the deli table and grabbed his hand in the manner of a handshake, and we began to pray. I thanked God for the day, and gave Him praise for loving us beyond what we give back in return. We then began to get down to the business at hand and pray for grace, mercy, and help. As we sat in that corner deli table praying, a pay phone about three feet away began to ring. I went over and answered it, and I have no idea why I said this, but I asked if they wanted to speak to Gary. A man answered and said yes. I handed Gary the phone. Tears began to flow down Gary’s face as he told me it was his brother and he was coming to get him. Our prayers had been answered as we prayed. I left and went for a bike ride, and I came back about thirty minutes later. Gary was sitting in the same spot, I came up and shook his hand as in a handshake, and said, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Prayer had been answered and we both knew it. I got my Christmas present this year, and Gary got his. There is no greater gift than to have God give to us His children, Himself. God does for me what I could not do for myself…………………JRE

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
1 JOHN 5:14-15 NKJ