Thursday, May 5

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Many years ago, when our boys were much younger, I had one of them with me as I hurried through an area store. As I found whatever items I was looking for that day, my son, who was only about 5 years old at the time, did his own shopping. He came back to my cart holding some kind of “Mega-monster action figure” and asked if I could buy it for him. As I recall, the toy was about $10 and I had no intention of adding another toy to our collection of dinosaurs, Power Rangers and Legos!

I said, “Sorry bud, we can’t buy that today.”

He said, “But I want it! Why can’t you get it for me?”

For some reason I decided to try something other than the usual response of  “Because I said so!” Instead, I launched into something like this “I know you want the “Mega-monster” toy! But it costs $10 – and someday I want you to be able to go to college. Recent studies indicate that by the time you are 18 years old it will cost over $35,000 a year to send you to college. Over four years that makes $140,000 – can you say $140,000? So what I’d like to do is take the $10 and invest it in a college fund so that over the next 13 years or so, with interest, it will turn into $1000 – and then maybe you can go to college!”

He looked at me like I had green horns sprouting out of my forehead – but it worked. We got out of the store without the “Mega-monster!”

I like that story because it teaches me about prayer. What does a child asking his Dad for a “Mega-monster” have to do with prayer?

First, part of prayer is asking. Through prayer we ask our Heavenly Father for things that we believe he is able to give us. My son asked me for the toy because he had complete faith that I possessed the resources to buy it for him. When I pray asking God for help, or strength, or healing, or safety I do so because I believe that he possesses the power and resources to provide my requests. This is part of what Paul means when he writes,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

But the other side of prayer is trusting. I chose not to give my son the “Mega-monster” toy because I didn’t think it was best for him. While he was temporarily disappointed – and probably didn’t understand my decision was based in my love for him – eventually he would mature enough to understand (that particular son is going to college this year and I think he has probably forgotten all about the “Mega-monster!”). God invites us, as his children, to ask for anything in prayer. But he also asks us to trust him and his love for us enough to accept that he knows what is best for us – and will give us that which we most need.

Brian Coffey