Knock! Knock!

“Knock and the door will be opened to you...”Matthew 7:7

If you have a not so good memory like me, it is a great idea to make a list of answered prayers. Sometimes we have a sorry tendency to remember when we were disappointed because our prayers were not answered the way we wanted. But if we keep a list, we will realize how many times we knocked at the Lord’s door and He answered. 

Leonora Whitaker Wood, the mother of writer Catherine Marshall, helped many boys and girls from the slum district of their town. One boy in particular, Raymond Thomas, would come often to talk to her while she was darning socks or doing some other chores. He had a dream of going to college but his foster parents had not gone to college, so they thought, why should he? 

Leonora encouraged him: “Raymond, whatever you need, God has a supply of it ready for you, provided you’re ready to receive it. Whatever seems impossible for you is entirely possible for God....Money? What’s money? Money should be the slave , not the master of every dream that’s right for you, every dream for which you’re willing to work.” Leonora was a preacher’s wife and had little enough herself but she believed this because God had answered her own prayers. 

She prayed over him, “Father, all resources are Yours. Will you please make it possible for Ray to receive what he needs for an education? I believe You have big plans for Ray. Unshackle him from thoughts of lack. Let him know there are no limitations to what You can do. Plant in his mind and heart the vivid pictures, the specific dreams that reflect Your plans for him.” 

After that, some well to do friends at the church contributed and Rey was off to college at Davidson, North Carolina. He worked several jobs to continue his college studies. Several years after college, Raymond did not stop dreaming and praying. He took his Ph.D. in Physics from the University in Vienna, learned several languages, travelled to 60 countries, and worked in the US Atomic Energy Agency in Europe. 

Sometimes, God plants dreams in our hearts. Let us knock at His door so He can open it and make it come true.