Thursday, February 26, 2015

Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Gloom of Night...

Whoosh! I love the sound of a picture being sent via iPhone to Facebook! Then the word, Delivered, assures me that the message has been received.  How I hate the words, Not Delivered, when it fails to send!

The whooshing noise as the image is snatched from the phone  and thrown into space reminds me of prayers going up to God. Then the ping from my phone is like a heavenly response, or a message sent to me.

In Bible days, priests burned incense in their religious ceremonies. the rising smoke symbolic of prayers going up to heaven. Revelation 8:3 reads, "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar before the throne.

(4) "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the  prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."  The following verse says that an angel took the censer, filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth, causing thunder and lightning and an earthquake!  Wow! Our prayers must be powerful! The imagery prompts Max Lucado to say that when saints pray, we create an explosion of power!

As believers, we don't have to wonder whether our prayers have been received.  I Peter 3:12 says, "For the eyes of the Lord are ever over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers;". However, the rest of the verse carries a warning: "but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

Our prayers are even more instantaneous than the internet capabilities.  And prayer communication is certainly more reliable than US Mail.  I had intended to send our small grandchildren Valentines recently, then one day I realized it was only two days until Valentine Day!  I hurried to town and selected cute cards for them, knowing that mail usually gets to their home in Houston in two days.

We did a couple errands before making it to the mailing center, where the mail goes out at three o'clock.  I hurried in a few minutes past three and asked if the mail had gone out.  At Christmas, they ran a little late and I was able to catch them just in time to mail packages. Not this time.  The postal lady shook her head at my hopes and tried to call the main post office to see if theirs had gone out, which she thought probably had.  We rushed there anyway, and the postman said he would carry them immediately to the truck that was loading and that they would get there by  Valentine Day on Saturday.

When I asked their father Saturday if the children had received their cards, he said he hadn't checked but would call me later, which he did, and no cards!  I fought tears of frustration at myself, for I knew they had had a party and valentines at school, and by the time  they got mine, they would be meaningless.  Besides which, I realized Monday was Presidents Day, and no mail would be delivered.

When we visited them this week, I asked about the cards.  Anne-Marie thought she remembered one, but wasn't sure.  Maddie knew nothing about them.  Turns out she was asleep when they got them from the mailbox, and hadn't seen hers.  Of course, one-year-old Isaac was clueless. At least my disappointment was overshadowed by the joy of seeing the kids! (And later I did hear their mother remind them of the crisp, new dollar bills that we sent with the cards.)

God loves us even more than we love our children and grandchildren, and we are told in Philippians 4:6, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

(7)"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

And we can be sure our prayers are delivered!

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