A pang of alarm swept over a young dad as he groped for his wallet. It was missing. As you know, these days it is easier to recover from the shingles than the loss of a wallet or a purse.
So, he mobilized his family, and they scoured the house high and low. They found coins in the armchair and balls of fuzzy cat hair – but no wallet.
It soon became a prayer. “Lord please help us to find that wallet.” But a day went by, then another, then a week and 14 days later it was still AWOL.
Then one day their cat stood outside the door to their home. Through the glass, the family could see that she had brought them a present. She had a chipmunk clamped in her jaws.
Mom shouted, “Don’t open that door!” but the kids were already granting admission. The cat bolted in the house, and the chipmunk bounded from her mouth.
The kids were screaming, and mom was scrambling. The chipmunk ran for cover in the living room. They tracked him down to an armchair. The sassy little guy was found sitting underneath, right next to dad’s missing wallet.
Prayer answered! Evidently the little guy was dispatched from God’s lost and found department. But what a crazy way to answer a prayer. What was God thinking?
Well let me say, that prayer is utterly unnecessary. I mean God is God, He is omniscient – knowing all things. He knows what we need even before we need it. And He is utterly capable and very willing to provide for those needs.
And yet He expects us to ask for what we need. In fact, His message to us in James 4:2 is, “You do not have because you do not ask.”
But why must we pray?
He created man in the beginning to enjoy a relationship with us. Prayer is one of the few ways that we find ourselves frequently refreshing that relationship.
Jesus gave His disciples some instructions on prayer. He said, “I tell you the solemn truth, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, so that your joy may be complete – (John 16:23-24)
It’s all about relationship. We are to pray to the Father, and to do it in Jesus’ name. When this takes place, He promises that it will be done. And a partial motivation on the Lord’s part is to give His children complete joy.
He cares about us. He wants to interact with us. He wants to give us joy! He wants to do what we ask of Him – but we must go through Him first.
I don’t see my doctor very often because I have a prescription that is automatically filled each month. If God were to meet our needs in that way – we might take Him for granted – even forget that He is there. There would be no relationship.
I remember being a young dad, and having my children come to me for help – to fix a broken toy, or bandage a wound, or to grab something beyond their reach. It was a privilege and even a joy. It was clear that they needed and appreciated me.
I suppose God may feel the same way when we seek Him in prayer.
OK but why a chipmunk?
Well maybe because sometimes we pray, and God faithfully answers. But He does so through the gift of a friend, or the healing hand of a doctor, or maybe a promotion at work.
And we attribute our good fortune to luck or circumstance or the result of our hard work.
So sometimes God wants to remind us in unmistakable if not a crazy way, that it is He who hears and specifically tends to our needs.
So, look for the chipmunks in your life and thank the Father who sent them.
A PRAYER: Thank you Lord, for your blessings on us.
This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com
May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Scripture passages are from the NET Bible ®
Graphic by Rhododendrites- Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=117125635
Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson 