Shifting Sand

There once was a little girl who loved blue eyes. Every morning, she would gaze into the ravishing sky-like tone of her mother's eyes, and long for hers to look the same. But this little girl had brown eyes. As the days went by, she grew more and more insecure about her appearance, and those dark, hollow-looking eyes. One day, however, she heard someone talk about the power of prayer. If I pray, God will give me blue eyes!  This little girl closed her eyes tight that night, and fell asleep, sure that she would wake up to a pair of beautiful cerluean eyes staring back at her in the mirror. After all, God answers prayer!  When she woke up, however, she saw only the same brown eyes blinking at her in the glass. Maybe "no" is an answer, too.

Many of you have probably heard this story. And we all understand, and can relate, to its meaning and its moral. But could I suggest that this story, in the way that it's usually told, can be dangerously misleading?  The average Christian hears the lesson this girl learned, and applies a simple philosophy to their prayer life: "No" is an answer.

There is an undeniable element of truth in this statement; God will not fill every prayer request, just as He didn't see it fit to give this little girl blue eyes. The problem with the modern outlook on this idea, however, is that we think it's arbitrary. Many of us have the outlook that we present our requests to God, but never really know what to expect. God just sometimes says no.... that's all there is to it. Right?

The wise man built his house on Rock. An arbitrary "no" that we expect from God is not rock. It's shifting sand. It's changed by every draft that washes in. We don't know where we stand, if we think God is arbitrary in His answers to prayer.

The Rock is God's plan. The Rock is God's promises. The Rock is God's will.

Leslie Ludy rightly asserts in her book Set-Apart Femininity that modern prayers of the church are weak. We're afraid of receiving an arbitrary "no" from God, so often, we never step out boldly to ask for anything. So often, we act like He may not even hear us..... and many times, we have to wonder if He does.

Prayer is a difficult subject to tackle. One of the first questions the disciples asked Jesus was: "Lord, teach us to pray!"  Jesus' answer was the Lord's Prayer. Notice that, on the very second line of that prayer..... before personal requests for our daily bread, before forgiveness, before even a plea against temptation..... are these simple words: Thy will be done.

God does answer some prayers with a "no". But He is not arbitrary in his answers. God cannot violate His own nature. God will not go against His own plan. It's true that He will sometimes answer a prayer with a "no". But let's return to the story at the beginning of this devotional.

This little girl's name was Amy. Amy grew up in Europe, but she would not spend her whole life there. Later in her life, she moved to Japan as a missionary and, later, to India. She felt deeply moved when she heard stories of children forced into temple prostitution, and made it her goal to free as many as possible. A European blue-eyed, light-skinned woman sneaking into a Hindu temple would have been noticed and questioned. But an Indian woman, with tan skin and, yes, brown eyes, would be able to get in and out much more subtly. Amy Carmichael saved the lives of hundreds of children, and brought many to Christ through her work. God had a plan for her. God did not arbitrarily deny her request for blue eyes. He knew that blue eyes could compromise the mission and the sacred call He had set upon her life. God has even the tiniest, most minuscule details of our life worked out. Yes, His answer is sometimes "no". But His will is always done.

Our faith is built on shifting sands, and is changed by every tide of life as it washes in. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can build our house of prayer on the Rock. If God says He has given you an open door, then He has given you an open door. That no one can shut. (Revelation 3)  No one, whether it's personal failure, weakness, insecurity, guilt, or seemingly unanswered prayers, can shut that which He has opened.

I'm always amazed when I read Eric and Leslie Ludy's outlook on prayer and faith. They spoke in one of their books about how they had struggled with a lack of faith in their prayer lives, and had been afraid to pray boldly, for fear of an answer being no. But as their faith grew, their prayers became more and more powerful. Eventually, they came to the point where their entire lives depended on and centered around true, wrestling prayer. Even with all of that spiritual vigor, the answer was sometimes "no". But they had built their house on the Rock. Now, every time God answers no, they excitedly look for His hand in the situation. He is not arbitrarily which prayer requests to fill, and which ones to ignore; He's working out His perfect plan.

The Rock is unchanging. The Rock is immovable. It's unending, it's infallible, it's true, it's perfect, it's whole.

The Rock is also available. Are we brave enough to build upon it?

My faith is like shifting sand,

Changed by every wave,

My faith is like shifting sand,

So I'll stand on grace.

-Caedmon's Call