You were praying for what?

Recently several of us from Living Hope went on a mission trip to Lynch, KY, a poverty stricken area in the Appalachian region of Kentucky (for a related story please see the July 12th blog entry by Cindy Starr). One of our wonderful team families was kind enough to tow our small church trailer that had items in it for our block party that would be held Tuesday night, some various supplies and 70 cases of laundry detergent donated by a local factory. That detergent was extremely heavy and there were times when we thought, "Why in the world are we carting 70 cases of laundry detergent nearly 5 hours away from home?" Our question was answered Sunday morning after church when a gentleman that worked for Freedom Center approached us and told us that he had seen our trailer and wondered if we wanted to unload some of the material that we had brought since we were so close. We did unload the supplies that had been brought for them and then we began to unload laundry detergent. To our surprise (and chagrin) he began to tell us about he had been praying for laundry detergent (I thought it was weird at first too). He told us that they could use it in their ministry and sell it in their store to help support the ministry. How amazing it was to us that while we were questioning the wisdom of bringing all of that detergent, God was honoring the prayer of a humble servant for that very same item.

In today's devotional Blackaby speaks about the fact that God answers the prayers of his people who are living a godly life. Praise be to the God who answers the prayers of His people, the God who "stands ready to respond to their faintest cries for help" even the requests for laundry detergent. May we never think ourselves so big as to forget that God cares about even the most seemingly minor needs of our lives. Thank you Jesus!

Mark Gilliam
Stewardship Minister