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SHIPWRECK AND PRAYERS
A voyaging ship
was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it
were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors,
not knowing what else to do, agree that they had no other recourse
but to pray to God.
However, to
find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the
territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing
they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a
fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat
its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren.
After a week,
the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife The next
day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman
who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island,
there was nothing.
Soon the first
man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic,
all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had
nothing.
Finally, the
first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave
the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of
the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided
to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man
unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had
been answered.
As the ship
was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming,
"Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
"My blessings
are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the
first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered and so
he does not deserve anything."
"You are
mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer,
which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any
of my blessings."
"Tell me,"
the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that I
should owe him anything?"
"He prayed
that all your prayers be answered"
For all we know,
our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those
of another praying for us.
With obedience come blessings. "What you do for others is more
important than what you do for yourself" |
“Jesus’
Baptism”