Prayer

[Chrysostom]

What need is there for a miracle, when you already possess the greater sign? Job worked no miracle in sight of the devil, yet his endurance shone brighter than any miracle. David, when yet young, raised no dead and cleansed no leper, yet God called him a man after His own heart. John the Baptist did no miracle at all, yet multitudes flocked to him. Know you not that miracles, unless we be sober, often do harm? Many have been carried away by pride over wonders, but love of virtue and care for a godly life take away that restless desire for the spectacular.

You pray for a sudden provision, a softening of hearts. Truly, such a swift change would be like the conversion of Paul, which was so sudden it could only come by Divine revelation. God can do this. But I urge you to see that your own endurance in this exhausting trial is itself a miracle of grace. The strength to rise each day, to forgive your son’s wrongdoing, to hold no bitterness though he turned his back on you, this is a life that shines with a patience firmer than adamant. That very commandment you recalled, to honor father and mother, is a light by which God sees how you have been wronged. He is not pleased with such dishonor, and His power to punish is real, yet leave that to His justice.

When the Lord walked on the sea, He did not show Himself plainly to the multitude because the miracle was too great for their infirmity. So too, perhaps God is working in a hidden manner now, teaching you to lean not on human help alone, but on strong thoughts and skill in the Scriptures. A mind so trained is mightier than any outward marvel. Apply yourself to small jobs as you can, trusting that He who turned water into wine at Cana knows your need before you ask. Wait in patience. Your faith is not measured by a quick answer, but by the stillness of your soul in the waiting.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer reaches to the very heart of God, not because you have framed it perfectly, but because you have brought your emptiness to the One who fills all things. We must never forget that the greatest miracle He can work is the one He has already begun in you, drawing you to call upon Him, to confess your dependence. That you cry out to Him at all is evidence that His hand is already upon your life. The deep thirst of the human soul, that cry for help when all our own resources are spent, is not a sign of weakness but the most honest place a person can stand. Any pretense of strength, any mask of having it all together, would only shut you off from the provision He longs to give.

He knows about the exhaustion, the hotel bill, the impossible math of the days ahead. Scripture is full of God’s tender care for those who are simply trying to survive. When His people were hungry, He made a way for them to eat from the fields they passed through, a provision that met the need of the moment without allowing abuse. That tells us something about His character. He is not a distant deity unmoved by your sleepless nights and weary calculations. He is the One who took the little that was offered, blessed it, and fed a hundred men with food left over. Your need for shelter right now, provision while you wait for the funds that are coming, is not a small thing to Him. He is Lord over the hotel, over the hearts of those who might help, over the very days on the calendar. He can work through anyone or anything He chooses, even a circumstance that seems to have done a lot of damage, and bring about some measure of good.

What you are wrestling with regarding your son is weighty, and you have borne it with a spirit that honors the Lord. You have named the hurt and the injustice, you have refused to let bitterness take root, and you have remembered the commandment of God, that honoring father and mother carries a promise. That is not a trite rule; it is a revelation of His order. The Lord has seen every time your son refused to carry his weight, every loss you suffered because of it, the apartment, the storage unit, your belongings, the car. God is not blind, and He is not indifferent. The failure of your son to rise to what is right comes from the hardness of the human heart, the same hardness that mars so much of life and causes people to fall short of the divine ideal for how we treat one another. And yet, the Lord’s own word to you stands. The stability coming at the end of this month, the house you will be able to afford, is not a gift the enemy would give you. It is a provision the Lord has carved out, even through the upheaval of an eviction. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, who declares that the law of provision and rest is made for your benefit, not your destruction.

Do not think for a moment that your requests are too practical or too desperate for His attention. When you ask Him to touch or soften someone’s heart to help you, you are asking for the very kind of thing He delights to do. He is able to prompt a person to act as an instrument of His care, the same way the body of Christ is meant to function, one member feeling the need of another and responding. You are not a solitary limb trying to survive alone. Your need is real, and it is right to ask Him to move on the hearts of people to be the vessels of that help. Keep applying for those small jobs. That act of doing what you can while trusting Him for what you cannot is a beautiful kind of faith. He has not boxed Himself out of your situation. He made provision long ago for miracles, for divine intervention that operates outside our scientific explanations, where a simple act of looking to Him in trust becomes the channel for life and rescue.

The waiting period between now and the end of the month is hard ground. You feel torn down and weak. But the One who did not come to condemn you is the One who stands ready to build you up. You are not coming to Him with a counterfeit hope; you are coming with the genuine poverty of spirit that He promises to bless. The miracle is not just the final resolution; the miracle includes the strength to get through today, the ability to sleep in the storm, the grace to walk into that hotel lobby with your head held up because you are a daughter of the King. You are asking Him for bread, not a stone, and He gives good gifts to His children. Trust that as you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, these necessary things will be added to you. The cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him. He is not poor. And He loves you with a love that saw your need for a Savior before you ever asked for hotel money. The answer to the deepest need for God in your life has already been given; now trust Him for the daily bread and the shelter until your change comes.