1 Thessalonians 2:8
When the black hood was placed over Tom White’s head, he didn’t know if he would see the light again. “Where are you taking me?” he asked the Cuban guards. The guards said nothing.
Tom had been secretly delivering Christian literature to Cuba for seven years. He and others had dropped gospel tracts out of planes into the ocean around the Communist island. But he had never heard from a single Christian in Cuba that the materials had arrived.
“Please, God,” Tom had prayed, “give us some confirmation that our work is helping.”
Now, six weeks later, he was taken to meet a Cuban intelligence officer, Captain Santos. Their plane had crashed in Cuba, and Tom and the pilot, Mel Bailey, had been captured and charged with compromising the stability of the nation.
“Our people have found thousands of these on the beaches and in the fields!” Captain Santos shouted, holding one of the sea packages that had been dropped years before.
Tom tried not to smile. “Thank you, Lord,” he prayed, “for answering my prayer. Thank you that our work has not been in vain.”
The answer to Tom’s prayer was costly. He spent twenty-one months in Cuban prisons. But in Castro’s prison, he met many members of the church and learned that even under Castro, Christ’s body was prospering. God answered his prayer.
Do believers know what it means to have a costly answer to prayer? If we want God to answer our prayers, we must be willing to receive his answers under any circumstances. A costly answer to prayer is one that involves us in the process. We offer our prayers to God, but do we offer our lives if necessary? We may often pray for those suffering under oppression. But what if we are called upon to help deliver food and relief through a mission opportunity at our church? If we ask God to help in times of need, we must also respond when he asks us to be part of the solution. Is there a problem you have prayed about and not yet received a clear answer? Could it be that God is waiting on your willingness to be part of the solution?
Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs
When the black hood was placed over Tom White’s head, he didn’t know if he would see the light again. “Where are you taking me?” he asked the Cuban guards. The guards said nothing.
Tom had been secretly delivering Christian literature to Cuba for seven years. He and others had dropped gospel tracts out of planes into the ocean around the Communist island. But he had never heard from a single Christian in Cuba that the materials had arrived.
“Please, God,” Tom had prayed, “give us some confirmation that our work is helping.”
Now, six weeks later, he was taken to meet a Cuban intelligence officer, Captain Santos. Their plane had crashed in Cuba, and Tom and the pilot, Mel Bailey, had been captured and charged with compromising the stability of the nation.
“Our people have found thousands of these on the beaches and in the fields!” Captain Santos shouted, holding one of the sea packages that had been dropped years before.
Tom tried not to smile. “Thank you, Lord,” he prayed, “for answering my prayer. Thank you that our work has not been in vain.”
The answer to Tom’s prayer was costly. He spent twenty-one months in Cuban prisons. But in Castro’s prison, he met many members of the church and learned that even under Castro, Christ’s body was prospering. God answered his prayer.
Do believers know what it means to have a costly answer to prayer? If we want God to answer our prayers, we must be willing to receive his answers under any circumstances. A costly answer to prayer is one that involves us in the process. We offer our prayers to God, but do we offer our lives if necessary? We may often pray for those suffering under oppression. But what if we are called upon to help deliver food and relief through a mission opportunity at our church? If we ask God to help in times of need, we must also respond when he asks us to be part of the solution. Is there a problem you have prayed about and not yet received a clear answer? Could it be that God is waiting on your willingness to be part of the solution?
Readings taken from
Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs
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