Obvious and hidden answers…

My favorite story about answered prayer:

The rain was coming down in torrents.

The man was in his house looking out the window. Soon enough, a police vehicle came by and urged the man to leave. A flood was coming.

He responded, "I will pray to the Lord and he will save me."

The water began to rise. He moved to the second floor of his house.

A boat floated by and two National Guard soldiers said, "Get in the boat. The waters are rising."

Again he answered, "I will pray to the Lord and he will save me."

The water continued to rise.

The man is perched atop his chimney when a helicopter drops a rope down to him. "Take the rope or you will drown," says the rescuers.

He says, one more time,   "I will pray to the Lord and he will save me."

Sadly, the man drowned.

When he arrived in heaven he is puzzled and asks God, "I prayed and prayed and prayed. Why didn't you save me?"

God says to him, "Well, I sent you a car, a boat and a helicopter. What were you expecting?"

Sometimes answers to prayers are more obvious than hidden. The answers can be right in front of us, cost little and be most effective.

As you begin to focus your prayers on the church and your brothers and sisters in Christ, allow the Creator to fill your mind with the fullness of creative revelations about who we need t  be as a community of faith and  what we need to be doing to fulfill the deepest desires of our Lord for us.

Moving to the deeper places,
Jeff