Day 39
“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.”
I Peter 5:7 kjv
Today, I thought I’s share a guest blog post that I did for the author, Penny Zeller (
http://pennyzeller.wordpress.com), back in March 2011. Penny is a very sweet lady; I enjoy her Facebook posts here: (
https://www.facebook.com/pennyzellerbooks)
Anyway, it seems like a fitting thing to share as I come toward the end of my 40 day prayer challenge. It’s about the very beginnings of my prayer life… the first two prayers answered in college.
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I can still remember the day I was dropped off and abandoned by my parents. Couldn’t they see that I still needed their watchful care? I was left
feeling terribly insecure, being separated from the comforts of my home and the pleasant memories…
My mother always cooked the same old-fashioned meals that she grew up with..cornbread with fried ‘tators’ and beans, biscuits and gravy, sauerkraut and weiners and for special holiday occasions, pickled pigs feet! My dad was the meekest man that I ever knew. Just for your own information, he was actually quite mischievous in nature. He always seemed to get me in trouble with Mom for acting unladylike while wrestling with him. (He always started it! I’m telling the truth!)
But here I was…nineteen and sitting in a dorm room ready to tackle Bible college. My parents made their departure and I felt that the mere 300 miles away was in reality a million.
I enrolled in classes, and with enthusiasm, I signed up for a gazillion credit hours. (Boy, did I ever learn a lesson about being more sensible!) Now that I look back, I’m so very thankful for that first year in Bible college. It was the year that I learned the most about prayer.
Cooking class was one of my favorite classes. After all, learning to cook is something that young ladies finally begin to take more seriously when they start counting down the days until their prince charming comes galloping into their lives.
My professor asked us to bring a dollar bill the next day to cover the cost of canned goods that would be used in the kitchen. Fantastic! I was looking forward to getting out of class and having some fun in the kitchen. The only problem, I realized after class, was that I had no dollar bill. Mom and Dad was not nearby to lend a dollar at my request as before. Searching my brain for resources, I decided to do something for the first time in my life….ask God to supply a dollar!
Later that afternoon, my roommate made a quick request while rushing out the door. “
If you’ll just finish typing this page for me, I’ll pay you a dollar.” I couldn’t believe my ears! I gratefully took the job and proudly handed that dollar to my professor the next day.
I learned an amazing lesson that day on how God could really supply my needs. Just as we use repetition to teach a child, God soon taught me another lesson. (And I was glad for the repetition of learning His lessons.)
It was laundry day for the dorm girls. My turn was coming soon. And although the dryer was free to use, I lacked the measly fifty cents that encouraged the washing machine to do its job.
Within minutes of my turn to wash, a knock on the door became my biggest encouragement for the day! One of the dorm girls, who had to go to work, was willing to pay the required
fifty cents to run a load of laundry if I but washed a few of her items with mine.
That day God provided just
50 cents, but it seemed as though it was the most meaningful prayer ever answered. God knew that I needed that repeated lesson to really “get it.” The first time I learned that God could truly “provide” for our needs. The second time I learned that God really “cares” about our needs…even the little ones
There seems to be some false assumptions about prayer that actually keeps us from praying more. Sometimes we feel that we must have a big emergency before God will actually pay attention to our need. Other times we feel that we’re just not good enough to deserve God’s blessings. Although we truly aren’t deserving of all His goodness, we fail to recognize that He is our “Heavenly Father” who loves us more than we can even comprehend and knows so much more about taking care of us than we do our own children.
My husband also learned a very similar lesson about prayer while in Bible college. If I should have the opportunity to tell it, I would entitle it, “
The Ten-Cent Prayer.” God’s goodness and mercies are not reserved for only people of big importance. Just remember, no need is too small and realize that “
God is no respecter of persons.” (Acts 10:34 kjv) He loves you and wants to bless you every single day.
God bless your day ahead,
Rhonda White]]>
