The “prayed -- for” House
r
By Rev. Ben Owen, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Redmond, Oregon
ceives its light and warmth. Man made sunsets, those long contrails o f jet planes in the western air lanes, cannot compete with the lavish riot of changing color which, with a vast disdain for economy, fills the whole horizon with beauty. Praying about a house was not new to me, but somehow this time it struck me with new force. We had prayed about the sale o f our house in Salem when I left my work as associate pastor of the First Baptist Church to take up the work as pastor in Redmond, Oregon. At that time we did not know which of the two courses would be the Lord’s will. Whether to rent the house, or to sell it, was the subject of our prayers. So we agreed to put out the fleece, as it were, to determine which course. We would put an adver tisement in the paper to sell. If the house sold, then we would ac cept that as the proper thing and the Lord’s will in the matter. The first—and only—person to reply to the advertisement dialed our telephone by mistake. She apologized to my wife, saying that she was trying to get in touch with a different person who had a house listed for sale. “ I am not the party you asked for,” my wife replied to her. “ But we have a house for sale.” “You do? Well, perhaps I am supposed to see your house,” the caller answered. That is the way it went. A
“ y O U PRAYED FOR THIS HOUSE?” ■ “ Yes, I prayed for it,” my wife quite matter-of-factly re peated her comment. The twins were off to school and we were sitting at the still cluttered din ing room table, enjoying long mo ments of silent togetherness. The room-long, and low, picture win dow seems to bring all o f the out doors right into the house with us. Just a hundred feet across the yard the canyon stretches out be fore a panorama of mountains which lift their snowy peaks into the blue skies. A half hour’s drive puts us into the mountains. Down in the canyon and in our yard, an assortment of furry creatures delight us with their an tics. A solemn old ground hog of fierce countenance craw led through the split-rail fence one day and perched on the bale of hay which forms part o f the land scaping. Chipmonks scurry nerv ously around. Rabbits and squir rels have the run of the yard. In keeping an eye on the animals, we do not neglect the bird life. Humming birds, quail, robins, magpies, blue birds and others all get a fair share of watching. Cat tle graze in the canyon and the neighbor girl gallops her horse up and down. Altogether it is a vista that never tires the eye. Often the day opens with the early sun creeping down the snow peaks, lighting the valleys in between until finally “ our” canyon re- 22
wrong number called by mistake resulted in the sale of our house within fifteen minutes for cash. The prayer was answered in an unusual way. But this morning, slowly sip ping coffee and drinking in the beautiful hillsides across the can yon, I was struck by what my wife had just said. “ Do you mean to say that you prayed about this house?” With quiet confidence she re plied, “ Yes, I did—this house.” “ But what on earth did you pray about?” “Well, I asked the Lord for some trees. I wanted to see some trees from our new house, wher ever it would be. And there they are! Junipers in our own yard. And look, poplars and elm and ap ple trees down in the canyon . . . trees everywhere,” she replied. Before I could interrupt, she continued. “ And then I wanted some mountains. There they are — nine snow-capped, great big beautiful mountains. Oh yes, I also asked the Lord for a large living room and we have it. You know, until this moment I had forgotten these prayers which were made before you ever start ed building the house. But now we have them all.” So we do. The Lord has been so good to let us have The Prayed- For House. Can He not give you the desire of your heart, too, if it is His will? Ask Him and trust Him. THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker