Listen to a story about one woman who didn't dare to ask God for a miracle and one woman who did:
There is a story of a native woman living in a village deep in a rain forest in South America. She was a Christian. One day her little daughter became very sick. Her fever was dangerously high and a missionary doctor said that if she weren't put in a bath of ice to cool her body down, the young girl would die.
The native woman told the missionary that she would pray and ask God to send ice. The missionary was concerned that this new Christian would be disappointed so she tried to discourage her. "We live far from any city or electricity. There has never been ice in the rain forest. I don't know how God would answer such a prayer."
The woman responded, "Didn't you tell me that God is powerful enough to do anything? If He is, then He can send ice to save my daughter, and I am going to ask Him for it."
That afternoon, the clouds over the rainforest became very dark. Soon, it seemed that the heavens opened up and hail poured down from the sky covering the ground with small ice pellets. The villagers quickly gathered the "ice," and they placed the little girl in a tub of very cold ice water. The fever finally came down and she got better.
Why didn't the missionary want to pray for ice? (
She couldn't figure out how God would answer the prayer, and so the missionary decided not to even ask.)
Why did the native woman pray for ice? (
She remembered that God has the power to make ice appear anywhere He wants -- no matter how hot it is.)
Read what Jesus said about prayer in
John 14:13-14.
- Talk about power! But does this mean that prayer works like a magic wand...that you can ask for anything and "poof!" it appears? (No!)
- Why not? (Read verse 13 again)
Jesus said, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do."
- How are we supposed to pray? (In Jesus' name)
- We come to God in Jesus’ name, not in our own name.
When you go to the store and write a check to pay for something, you must sign your name on the check. Your name on the check means two things:
- You approve of this purchase
- You have the ability or money available to cover the cost
God promises to answer your prayers in Jesus' name. This means that your prayer must be something that Jesus approves of or would agree to. The test of any prayer is to ask yourself:
Is this something that Jesus, Himself, would ask for? For example, Jesus never prayed for something that was sinful.
For God to answer prayers in Jesus' name also means that we are depending upon Him to answer the request however and whenever He wants to. A prayer in Jesus' name means that we trust God to do what He wants to do.
You can be totally honest with God; ask for anything and expect Him to do amazing things! But always remember that His will is perfect and so is He. He will never do anything if it is not the best for you.You may pray for a room full of candy, but I doubt He would think that would be best for you!!
Read a prayer from the Bible in
Ephesians 3:14-21.
I'm going to pray that prayer for you in a minute, but first, is there anything you would like to ask God to do? (
NOTE: Write down their prayer requests.)
Since nothing is too hard for God, we do not have a need too great for Him to meet nor a problem too complicated for Him to conquer. We can never pray a prayer too difficult for Him to answer.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER:
There is nothing too hard for God. You can take every problem to Him and know that He has the power to help.
TAKING ACTION:
Notice the elements of the prayer contained in Ephesians 3:14-21:
- Paul's humility, "I bow my knees"
- His requests for God's strength and Holy Spirit's help
- His awareness of their greatest needs
- His desire for their increased knowledge of understanding God and Jesus
- His recognition of God's great power to answer this prayer in ways beyond his ability to understand.
Pray a similar prayer for each child by name.
