August 12, 2017 www.PositiveChristianity.org presents Positive Daily Inspiration

 GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

"Before they call, I will answer!" Isaiah 65:24

This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in
spite of all we could do she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby
and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the
baby alive, as we had no incubator.

We had no electricity to run an incubator. We also had no special feeding
facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly
with treacherous drafts.

One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton
wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and
fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that
in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical
climates.  And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed.
As in the West it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central
Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.
They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest
pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and
sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. "Your job
is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of
the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters
various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny
baby.  I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough,
mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got
chills. I also  told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her
mother had died.

During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual
blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God," she prayed, send
us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be
dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of
a corollary, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly
for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly
say, "Amen?" ! I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I
know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits,
aren't there? The only way God could answer would be for a package to
arrive from the homeland.

I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never,
ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel,
who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!  Halfway
through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training
school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the
time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the verandah, was a
large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not
open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we
pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper,
taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting.

Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard
box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes
sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the
leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box
of mixed raisins and sultanas-that would make a batch of buns for the
weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the...could it really be?
I grasped it and pulled it out – yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water
bottle, I cried.

I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.
Ruth was in the front row of, the children. She rushed forward, crying
out, If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!"
Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small,
beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted. Looking
up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly
to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months.  Packed up by my
former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's
prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the
girls had put in a dolly for an African child-five months before -- in
answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that
afternoon."

POSITIVE DAILY PRAYER:

My life is God's life.
God's intelligence is in every part of it. 
As God keeps the stars in their courses and the Sun and the Moon in their paths, so God 
guides and directs my life.
God knows every direction that I need to go toward.
I rest secure in God's protecting presence, and all is well.
In Jesus Christ's name… Amen.

POSITIVE DAILY AFFIRMATION: My faith is a power within me; and through it, 
I connect with the all-powerful of God.

POSITIVE DAILY QUOTE: "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent 
of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned." Buddha

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