AN "IRRATIONAL" PLEA

Like most of us who are parents, there was nothing as important to Betty and her husband as passing their faith on to their children. The task had always seemed natural and uncomplicated. Their kids accepted their faith easily because they saw it so readily in the lives of their parents. But John was different. "John is a lot like his father," Betty confided." He doesn't accept things at face value. You have to prove it to him first." So more than the other children, John questioned his parents' faith. "I just don't know if I believe that God answers our prayers," John told his mother. "We've been praying for months that this guy at church would get well, and he's only getting worse. We're always praying for people who are sick. Sometimes they get better and sometimes they don't. But that happens to people whether they believe in God or not. I can't think of one time where God answered a prayer, and there was no doubt it was Him who did it. Not one time." That's when Betty did something drastic. "I felt I had to prove to John that there is a God and that He does answer prayers," she told me. Hiding her panic, she calmly sat down at the table. Placing her arm around John's shoulder, she asked, "What would it take for you to believe that God hears and answers our prayers?" John looked startled. "What do you mean?" "I mean, what prayer could God answer for you before morning to prove that He does answer prayer?" She paused for a moment to let John gather his thoughts. "I happen to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God does answer our prayers," she continued, "and I know that He wants you to know that, too." Again she paused, letting her words sink in a little deeper. "In fact, I'm so sure that God can prove Himself to you that I want you to pick something He could do for you before morning is over to let you know that He is real and genuine and active in our lives. Tell me what it is, we'll pray for it, and before morning is over, it will happen. I give you my word." "Even while I was talking to John, I couldn't believe what I was saying," Betty told me. "I sat there and promised my son that God would answer any prayer he could come up with - and who knows what he could have come up with!" So John came up with his request. "Well, we haven't had any rain for months," he said, "and everywhere we go, we hear that people are praying for rain. The weatherman said there's no chance of rain for days to come. If God would make it rain in the morning, I'd believe that it was Him who did it." So, together, Betty and John prayed for rain. "When we finished, I patted John on the back and with all the confidence I could muster, said 'Well, John, looks like it's going to rain tomorrow. Better get your umbrella out.' Then I walked upstairs and prayed harder than I'd ever prayed in my life. I don't know if I got more than two or three minutes of sleep that night. You know, Frank, I never dreamed I would do anything that irrational."  

The next morning, Betty and her family sat around the breakfast table, staring out at a clear blue sky. In the background they heard the morning news reporting another hot day with no rain in sight. Not a word was mentioned about the night before. The table was cleared, and the kids had gone to their rooms to get dressed for school. All the while, Betty continued to pray. Suddenly, one of Betty's daughters called her to the dining room window. What Betty saw there took her breath away. "John," she called out, "Come look out the window. There's something here for you." John stepped out of his room. As he approached the window, a clap of thunder shook the house. Outside, large beads of rain beat furiously against the pavement. John stood motionless beside his mother. "This is a present from God to you, John," she whispered through tears of joy. "Promise me you'll never forget it." With that, she gave him a loving hug, gazed another moment at the miracle outside, and walked back into the kitchen. John remained at the window for several minutes, then returned silently to his room. There was a lot of excitement at news desks around town that day. Out of nowhere, it seems, a small, black cloud rolled into the city, planted itself over a four-block area, and for 10 solid minutes threw down a wall of thunder and rain that hadn't been seen for quite some time. It stopped as suddenly as it started, rolled itself up, and headed north. No one could explain it.  

by Frank Martin