Intervention

Dec 23, 2019 prayer intercession children faith

My daughter’s kitten, Scarlett, disappeared this week. We walked the suburb, spoke with all the neighbours, phoned the SPCA (which was awkward: the lady wanted to know all kinds of details that I didn’t know - like the colour of her eyes – I felt like a bad parent!).

Our children prayed that God would bring Scarlett home, but when there was still no sign of her, they became discouraged. And so we had conversations about prayer – gently preparing them for the possibility that Scarlett might not come back. Sometimes, we said, God doesn’t answer prayer in the way that we would like. And we have to keep on persevering in praying.

On Thursday evening we sat down to supper together and we prayed for Scarlett again when giving thanks for the meal. Just after supper, the phone rang and a neighbour said he’d seen a cat in his garden matching her description. We rushed out together and ten minutes later Scarlett was back home – looking a bit shaken, but otherwise intact!

What a happy ending to this incident and a lovely thing to watch a child’s confidence in the God who answered her prayer. So, it seems, the lesson we learned here relates to persevering prayer (like the importunate widow in the gospels). On another day my children will no doubt experience the struggle of what seems like unanswered prayer, but not this time.

For children, the incident seems straightforward: God brought Scarlett back to us. For adults, it depends on our view of this world. If we have been wounded or disappointed in the past, we may be sceptical that God would intervene in a situation like this. We may find other ways to explain the return of this kitten. But, in this season of advent, as we remember the intervention of God in human history through the birth of Jesus, perhaps we may be ready to risk being open to the God who comes to us. May you encounter Immanuel as we worship together today.