There was once a man named Bob, who lived in his home in a valley. One day a terrible flood came. The flood waters rose to the eaves of his home. So Bob climbed out his window and up to his roof.
As Bob sat on his roof shivering in the rain, he prayed;
“God please help me. Please rescue me.”
The very next instant he heard a man shouting from below. The shout below came from a man in a rowboat. When the man saw Bob, he yelled up to him to come down and he would take him to safety.
But Bob yelled down to the man in the boat.
“I am waiting on God to help me.”
So, reluctantly, the man rowed away.
Again Bob prayed.
“God please help me. Please rescue me.”
The very next instant he heard a man shouting from above. The shout came from a man in a helicopter. When the man saw Bob, he yelled down to him that he would send him down a ladder and he would take him to safety. But Bob yelled up to the man in the helicopter.
“I am waiting on God to help me.”
So, reluctantly, the man flew away.
Again Bob prayed.
“God please help me. Please rescue me.”
The flood waters were getting higher and higher and were now almost to the top of the roof, lapping Bob’s feet. So once again Bob cried out to God.
“God please help me. Please rescue me. If you don’t come soon, I will surely die”
The very next instant he heard a man shouting from below. The shout came from a man in a speed boat. The man in the boat shouted up to Bob and told him to jump down and he would take him to safety. But Bob yelled down to the man in the boat.
“I am waiting on God to help me.”
So, reluctantly, the man sped away.
A few minutes later, the waters rose up over Bob’s head and he drowned. When he arrived in heaven he demanded an audience with God. When he talked to God face to face, he was very angry and said;
“See here God, I was always taught that you answer prayer and I prayed and you did not answer me.”
God replied;
“Yes I did answer you my son. I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?”
The moral of the story is that God works through people. In other words, He works through us. You and me. Everyone has problems and issues that they want God to resolve for them. We go to God for money, food, clothes, a job etc…
We pray to God and ask, but we expect God to part the clouds and drop the answer from heaven in a cute little parachute with a note on it that reads “(insert your name here), this is your answer from God.”
Or just like Bob in our story above, we pray expectantly, but we don’t recognize His answer when it comes.
In the story above, Bob prayed, but Bob expected God to come down physically from heaven and personally save him.
God could do this if He wanted to, but more often than not, He doesn’t work that way. The reason is pretty simple. Its because our sole reason to be on this earth is for relationship.
First relationship with God.
Second, relationship with each other.
Lets compare this to your wife or significant other or even a friend. In order to develop a good solid relationship with that other person, communication or working at the relationship needs to be a 2 way street. If one person does all the talking or all the work, then it’s not a relationship. In other words, both have to participate.
It’s the same with your relationship with God. If God does all the work, the relationship will not work. It takes participation on the part of both you and God in order to develop an intimate relationship. So, when you make a request of God, you have done your part. Next, its Gods turn. If the answer is Yes, God finds someone through whom He can work to fulfill that request.
Next, it’s that persons turn to do what God told them and meet your need. Be it giving you food, money, clothes, a job, a word from God etc…
In this way, God meets our prayer requests, but he does it through relationships.
So the next time you ask God for something, expect the answer to come, but look for it to come through someone. Just keeping it real! Phillip
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