I once went for an interview in London and I was having a lot of trouble finding a parking space. I finally found one in a multi-storey car park and then ran to the place where the interview was being held. I arrived just in time, but after the interview I left the building and stood on the pavement and that was when I realised I didn\u2019t have a clue where I had left my car! I had been in such a rush to get to where I was going that had forgotten to make a note of where I was going from! I found my car about an hour later, but only after I had been all the way through the three carparks which were nearby!<\/p>\n
It reminds me of a story of another man who was going for an interview for the most amazing job in his field. It was a job which would double his current salary, would give him a great future and a wonderful pension. It was everything he had ever wanted! He had the same problem as I had, though. He kept driving round the carpark, but couldn\u2019t find a space. He was beginning to panic because he was running out of time. He knew that if he was late for the interview he would not get the job.<\/p>\n
He started praying, \u201cPlease, Lord, help me! Please find me a parking space. If you do, I shall give 10% of everything to the church, I shall read my Bible every day, I will spend time helping people in every way I can \u2013 giving them lifts, money, working in their gardens, decorating \u2013 whatever is needed! Please, please find me a parking space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just at that moment a car pulled out of a space just in front of him. He shouted, \u201cIt\u2019s OK, Lord, you don\u2019t have to bother \u2013 there\u2019s a space here!\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a bit like that, you know. I pray when I need help, but when everything is going OK I don\u2019t bother. My problem is that until recently I really haven\u2019t had any problems, so I seldom pray for myself. I pray every day for my family, and sometimes for my friends, but I certainly don\u2019t pray enough and, when everything is going well, I hardly give prayer a second thought. I think a lot of people are like that. I also think that a lot of people who don\u2019t even believe in God find themselves in a terrible situation \u2013 maybe their lives are in danger \u2013 and suddenly start praying for the first time since they were born!<\/p>\n
But prayer isn\u2019t just an emergency thing. It\u2019s not just for those last-gasp moments in our lives. It\u2019s how we speak to God, and sometimes it\u2019s how we hear from him.<\/p>\n
We were all told as kids to \u201cask nicely\u201d but it\u2019s not just the nicely bit. The simple fact of the matter is that if you don\u2019t ask, you won\u2019t get.<\/p>\n
Jesus tells us to pray and to pray a lot. He said,<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.\u201d (Matthew 7:7-9)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not about just asking once and giving up just because our prayers aren\u2019t answered immediately \u2013 it\u2019s about praying a lot \u2013 again and again. Neither is it about stopping praying just because our prayer has been answered (like the man in the car park.)<\/p>\n Never stop praying. (1 Thessalonians 5 :17)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just the asking that does it!<\/p>\n But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This was the problem the man in the carpark had. He didn\u2019t just believe in God \u2013 he also believed in luck. When the space appeared in front of him, he didn\u2019t understand that God had answered his prayer \u2013 he thought he had just been lucky and effectively stopped praying!<\/p>\n Sometimes life goes well for us. Sometimes it doesn\u2019t. Sometimes we are very healthy, and sometimes we are very unwell. Sometimes we are happy, and sometimes life just gets too much for us. Prayer is for all those times! God isn\u2019t God just on the good days, any more than he is God just on the bad days. In Hebrews 13:8 we are told,<\/p>\n Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.<\/p>\n He is always the same. Today, tomorrow, good times, bad times \u2013 that is when he wants us to speak to him, to pray to him, to keep praying to him. The right time to pray is now, and the best way to pray is constantly. Constantly believing that God will answer our prayers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I once went for an interview in London and I was having a lot of trouble finding a parking space. I finally found one in a multi-storey car park and then ran to the place where the interview was being held. I arrived just in time, but after the interview I left the building and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","category-5","description-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfWaLo-11d","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7406,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2023\/06\/22-questions-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":3919,"position":0},"title":"22 – Questions, Questions","author":"Robert Pender","date":"01\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So, did I buy the turbo trainer, or didn't I? Well, the answer to that is easy - it's yes. Yes to both questions!","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7158,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/11\/badsadglad\/","url_meta":{"origin":3919,"position":1},"title":"8 – Bad Sad Glad","author":"Robert Pender","date":"20\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There is no photo at the top of this post because there isn't one which could cover everything that I am going to say. The three weeks since my last post have been a bit busy with appointments and it has been a whirlwind of emotions and news. There have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7454,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2023\/09\/25-believe-it-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":3919,"position":2},"title":"25 – Believe it or not","author":"Robert Pender","date":"01\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7463\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Believe it or not, it is exactly one year ago today that I contacted the GP surgery with my current condition. Believe it or not, I thought I had an infection. If you read my blog from the start of this series, you will find that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7117,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/10\/6-yesterdays-tomorrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":3919,"position":3},"title":"6 – Yesterday’s Tomorrow","author":"Robert Pender","date":"18\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7118\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\" css_animation=\"zoomInLeft\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I spent a lot of time thinking about the title of today's episode - Tears for Fears, Yesterday, Perfect Day, Tomorrow Never Comes, All Our Yesterdays - and a couple of dozen others that I can't remember for the life of me. Maybe I can't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7182,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/12\/11-held-and-healed\/","url_meta":{"origin":3919,"position":4},"title":"11 – Held and Healed","author":"Robert Pender","date":"03\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7183\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text] Held Well, that has been a bit of a week! Last weekend, I probably did a bit much. It's hard to tell, to be honest. In August I was as fit as a fiddle, now there are a few strings broken. I know I can't do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7131,"url":"https:\/\/pender.org.uk\/index.php\/2022\/10\/7-the-big-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":3919,"position":5},"title":"7 – The Big Sea","author":"Robert Pender","date":"27\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"7132\" img_size=\"full\" alignment=\"center\" style=\"vc_box_shadow_3d\"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]For most of the first 20 years of my life I lived next to the Clyde, a beautiful river with stunning scenery around it. Where I was, the river was very wide and was for most of the time calm. 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