Good news for a change

All nine coal miners were saved. Isn’t that fantastic. I’ll be honest, I thought they were goners. I prayed hard for their safety, but I was not very hopeful that any of them would be found alive. As I thought about this, it came to me that often I pray without really expecting God to answer my prayer in the affirmative. The Bible has something to say about prayer. It says that it can “avail much”. There were many in the United States that lifted up their voices to almighty God in prayer for those miners. I watched last night as the doctor who treated them termed their survival, “miraculous”. We prayed for a miracle and in this case, one was granted. Don’t ever give up on prayer and do not do as I did and doubt that God will answer in the affirmative. We are told in the Bible to pray without ceasing. Jesus told a parable about a woman that kept persistently banging on her neighbor’s door in spite of his futile attempt to dissuade her, until finally he got so tired of it, he got up in the middle of the night and gave her some bread. Jesus used this example to teach how we should be persistent with our prayers and to keep praying fervently.

Praying is conversing with our Father. It should not always be: give me, give me, give me, but also thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope all who prayed for the miners also prayed to our Father a hearty THANK YOU OH GOD… for hearing our prayers and granting these men their lives and giving the United States some much needed good news!

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James 5:16
…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

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