Thank you to Helen Harms, Assistant to the bishop of the WV/W MD Synod for sharing this devotion.
The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?: So she went to inquire of the Lord.
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Immeasurably More Than We Ask
The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?: So she went to inquire of the Lord.
Genesis 25:22
Rebekah’s prayer was for her own life and that of her babies. Yet her
prayer resulted in giving birth to two great leaders and all their
descendants. She asked God for only a penny but obtained a mountain of
gold-something she hadn’t hoped for or dared to believe. She kept her
prayer modest and reasonable, and she was willing to be satisfied with
small favors.
We too are in the habit of praying for trivial and insignificant
things. When we pray, we don’t take into account the great majesty of
God. If God wanted to give us only petty and superficial things, he
wouldn’t have given us such a magnificent model for prayer: “Our Father
in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come . . .” God has
plenty of resources, and he’s not a tightwad. He generously offers us
the best gifts available in heaven and on earth. He expects that we
will ask him for many things and that we will sincerely believe we will
get what we request. When we receive what we ask for in the Lord’s
Prayer, we are, in effect, receiving heaven and earth and everything
they contain. For when we ask for God’s name to be kept holy, for his
kingdom to come, and for his will to be done, we are overpowering
countless devils and engulfing the whole world with one prayer.
Because we are so narrow-minded and have such weak faith, we should
carefully note how God answered Rebekah’s prayer. God isn’t content to
provide us with a small amount even if we only ask for a little. He
prefers to give us “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”
(Ephesians 3:30). (Vol. 4, p. 364 Luther’s Works)
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So, I cannot help but wonder, after this challenge, do we really believe that we can pray so boldly and that God will hear and answer such prayers?
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