My mother was an optimist and a persistent pray-er. She prayed about what God’s Will was in relation to her desires.
Once she felt she was lined up with God’s Will, she waited expectantly. She noted that timing was completely up to God. She said we should never attempt to rush Him.
When she prayed aloud from time to time, she did not ask God again for something He had already assured her was on the way. She thanked God for His Provision, even though we saw no physical evidence of it yet.
When the “harvest” came, she rejoiced aloud that what she had been praying about had arrived.
Sometimes “the harvest” was so long in coming, I gave up. But not my mother.
My father was a prime example of the Power of Persistent Prayer. My father was a man of humility. One would never have associated him with pride.
However satan trips up humble people by causing them to feel inferior in some area of their life. It is kind of like a reverse of pride. Instead of “I’m so proud,” we move to “I’m so ashamed.”
When my father was a young man, he enjoyed singing. It likely came natural to him, as stories abounded of how his father loved to sing.
However, at some point, someone made fun of my father’s singing. He vowed he would never sing again. It was a vow he would keep for many years.
As many things as my father surrendered to The Lord in prayer, his hurt had been so severe, he kept that open wound to himself.
I never knew of his pain until after he was delivered many years later.
In the years before his deliverance, he did sing once a year. He sang Happy Birthday to me every year. It made me feel special, but I was always hungry to hear more. There was no more except … my father’s wonderful whistling.
The songs that were inside Him bubbled their way to the surface and flowed out in whistling. My favorite memories include him standing at the bathroom sink while he shaved and whistled. When he whistled “Mockingbird Hill” and the birds outside the open window joined in, it was heaven.
As my father aged, he had to have teeth pulled and eventually ended up with a full set of dentures. He had a beautiful smile, but alas, the new dentures robbed him of the ability to whistle. The music seemed to have died. It was so sad.
My mother said little, but quietly continued to pray. She later recounted to me the events of one special Sunday in church.
They attended a small church. Everyone sat in their usual seats Sunday after Sunday. There were rarely any visitors, and if there were, it was usually someone’s out of town family, so we knew where they were seated.
My mother joyfully sang every word of every hymn as usual. But on this particular Sunday, when they got to the chorus of “How Great Thou Art,” my mother said she heard as fine a tenor voice as ever she had heard.
She looked around trying to identify who this new mysterious singer might be. All the usual people were in their spots. There was no one new.
My mother said she wondered briefly if it was an angel. She turned to my father to see if he might also be wondering about the new singer.
However, much to her amazement, the new singer was my father!
Oblivious to my mother’s looks of amazement and then pure Joy, he sang a rapturous “How Great Thou Art!”
He never offered any explanation of what (or Who) freed the music that Sunday or what (or Who) healed a young man’s hurt. But my mother knew.
She told me from that moment on, he sang often. She added simply, “Carolyn, don’t ever give up in praying for something you know The Lord wants. He will bring it to pass in His Good Time.”
When my mother died, my father bravely tried to survive, living alone in the house where they had shared life for so many years.
One day I asked him what he did in a typical day. He shared some of his activities. He then added, “and usually I go and get the hymn book and sing for awhile. Your Mama always wanted me to sing, so I hope she can hear me now.”
I asked Daddy what his favorite hymn was. Without hesitation, he said, “How Great Thou Art.”
We sang it at his funeral … in the same church where he was healed of an old hurt. I like to think our little chorus joined with the mighty heavenly chorus, as we all praised God together.
Whatever you are praying about, know this — if it is in God’s Will, it will happen in His Timing.
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11:24
“Sing to The Lord a new song; sing to The Lord, all the earth!”
Psalm 96:1
