Keep on Praying
Jan 23, 2022 | by The Fellowship
I grew up on a farm in West Texas, and when I was old enough, my dad expected me to help with the farming. I began working in the fields hoeing and picking cotton when I was 11. Farm work includes a lot of machinery, primarily tractors and other equipment such as cultivators, planters, strippers, etc., which are pulled by or attached to a tractor.
John Deere was the most popular brand of tractor where our farm was located, and we had more than one tractor. Upon becoming a teenager, I learned to drive a tractor long before learning to drive a car. The exhaust of a John Deere tractor, at least when I was driving one many years ago, was like those of large trucks in that it discharged vertically. The exhaust pipe came up near the driver’s seat and made a very loud, “pop pop” noise.
Back in those days, we did not realize that this loud noise for hours on end could damage your hearing. But when I became a senior citizen, my hearing began to decline. Immediately I thought of that “pop pop” noise. Hearing aids were prescribed.
Keeping track of one’s hearing aids can be challenging! I had made the decision some time ago not to wear them while working in the yard. Especially when mowing the lawn, because who wants to hear the roar of the lawn mower better? But one day, I forgot to take them out and when I came indoors after finishing mowing, one was gone. Even though my wife and I searched, we gave it up before too long – realizing that it would be practically invisible in the grass and next to impossible to spot.
About a month ago, I was really tired at bedtime and very quickly went through my nightly routine. Laying my head on the pillow made me at once aware that I had forgotten to take out my hearing aids. I reached up to do it, and only my left hearing aid was there! Suddenly, I was wide awake!
My wife and I searched in the bed and around it, in the bathroom and clothes closet, in other rooms where we had been, but could not find the other one. Because it was late, we decided to go to bed and wait until the next day to scour the house. The next morning, we prayed first and expected to find it quickly. But despite looking everywhere, including under furniture, it was not to be found.
My wife was sure it had to be in the house. She distinctly remembers noticing it the night before when we were sitting at the table playing a card game.
We kept praying and looking. She asked her Bible study group and weekly prayer group to join us in praying. Remembering the parable that Jesus told in Luke 18 about “always praying and not giving up,” we decided not to stop praying until it was found! And therefore not to replace it! Several weeks went by.
Last Saturday, I was vacuuming the floor in the family room and felt the urge to move the furniture and clean underneath each piece. That had not been done in some time. When I was cleaning the area where my recliner normally sits, the vacuum picked up something that made a strange noise. I stopped to investigate … and there was my lost hearing aid! I could hardly wait to show my wife!
Why had it not been seen when we looked under the furniture before? We surmise that when I sat in the recliner before going to bed that night, it must have fallen down and lodged in the chair’s mechanism. When the recliner got moved, it fell out!
Two things I learned from this experience: Like Jesus taught his disciples, never give up praying! And do not neglect moving the furniture to clean underneath. You never know what you might find!
C. N.
Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:24