Crime-Stopper Notebook

                "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God  what you need, and thank Him for all that He has done. (Phil 4:6 NLT)
 
For today’s editorial I’d like you to consider with me some thoughts on an oft-heard subject from pulpits - prayer. And, as usual, I have a little story to help illustrate our lesson. However, this one is somewhat different than most of the others as it involved a good friend of mine. He told me his story as we were traveling cross-country together a few months ago. 

As soon as possible, I took pen and paper and wrote down what he said because I’m well aware of my ability to recall things (or lack thereof). That’s why I always carry my "Crime-Stopper Notebook" (that dates me, doesn’t it?) just for that very purpose - my forgetfulness. But, in this instance, I took good notes and I can accurately relate my friend’s experience. Without further ado, here is what he told me.

My friend is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and is also a veteran of the Vietnam War and (appropriately) we were on our way to the Vietnam War Memorial when he told me this. He said that, upon completing his basic training, he received his orders to Vietnam, however, as customarily done, he was granted a short leave before reporting for duty.

He was going to fly home to see his family and, having obtained his ticket, he boarded the plane to go to his seat assignment and he had to pass through the First Class seating section to get to it. (I should note that he was in uniform) As he was doing so a hand caught him by the arm. He looked down and saw that the hand belonged to a man he recognized as Johnny Cash along with his wife, June, seated next to him.

Johnny asked him, "Son, are you being sent to Vietnam?" to which my friend replied, "Yes Sir." Johnny then said, "I’ll pray for you to safely come home." My friend said, "Thank you, Sir" and proceeded on to his seat. He enjoyed his leave time at home and then reported back for duty and went on to serve in Vietnam.
Isn’t that an interesting story? That a famous celebrity would stop a young soldier and say that he’d pray for his safety? Just doesn’t fit the perception we have of entertainers and celebrities today, does it?

I ask you though, is that really any different than us today - IE: praying that we or a loved one will have a safe journey? We offer and hear prayers to that end all the time, don’t we? Don’t we pray for God’s "watchful care" over us? Or, that He will give us the strength to see us through perilous or trying times? Of course we do!
At this point in our discussion about prayer and prayers, I’m going to mention something that is just a personal opinion. Sometimes I think that we might get a little selfish in our prayers. What I mean by that is, I think that a lot of people only think about praying to God when they need Him to take care of them in some manner. To "pull their fat out of the fire," so to speak. Yet, never remember to pray for other things, such as; just to let Him know that we love Him and recognize that He’s our Heavenly Father and that we consider His name to be "hallowed" (holy).
Or maybe, just to say that we’re appreciative of all the wonderful things He’s already blessed us with. Things like this wondrous earth He created and even our very existence on it. Plus, shouldn’t we just pray to let Him know that we’re thinking about Him?

We know from the Gospel that Christians are God’s family (Eph. 3:14-15). When you consider that, in conjunction with our topic of prayer, as a human father, isn’t it pleasing when your children call you just to say that they’re thinking about you? Relative as to how we feel when that happens, is it hard to imagine that same scenario with God?

I don’t think that you can find a better picture of this than the one we read about in Rev. 5:8 and 8:3-4. There we see that our prayers are like a sweet incense (odor) when they "ascend up before God." Shouldn’t we want to please God in this manner? Or, should we just keep Him in reserve until something bad happens and then remember to pray? I’ll let you decide which side of that equation is best.
Those are a few short thoughts of mine on prayer, and there are many more passages we could look at on this subject, but we can’t cover them all in one editorial. We’ll talk more about this subject in future editorials.

Now, do you recall that I asked if you found the earlier story "interesting?" Well, it actually didn’t end there. I just interrupted it for several paragraphs of thought and so, as Paul Harvey used to say - "now for the rest of the story."

Years later, my friend, now out of the military, was on a business trip for his company. He happened to be in another airport catching a flight home. As he was passing through a passenger waiting area he saw Johnny Cash and his wife, June, sitting in that area.
He walked over to them and said, "Mr. Cash, I just wanted to tell you that your prayers were answered." Johnny looked up at him and asked, "What prayers?" My friend reminded him of the earlier incident when he was about to head for war and then said to him, "I made it safely home from Vietnam." 

At that, Johnny thanked him and said that he was very happy to see and hear that. Johnny then asked my friend if he’d return the favor and my friend asked him what he meant. Johnny said that he and his wife were there for a flight to the Mayo Clinic for some treatments as his wife was very ill. My friend assured him that he’d be honored to pray for them where upon he had to leave them to catch his flight.
June Carter Cash passed away from her illness just a short time after this meeting.
You know, I see in this a lesson that shows us that God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way that we’d like them answered. Especially when it comes to the inevitability of death. God has blessed man with many great blessings in the area of medical practices and medicines, with more being discovered every day, yet still, "it is appointed unto man once to die..." (Heb. 9:27).

That is as much a certainty of life as is birth. Christians understand this, which is why we also pray for the "strength and comfort" to see us through that inevitable occurrence. That God can always give us those things because we believe that His promises are true and that He is faithful to keep them. That the eternity that awaits the faithful is far better than our temporal life here on earth. To me, that is another example of "the peace of God that passeth all understanding" and it "shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ." (Phil. 4:7)

Why don’t we close this lesson with a prayer thanking God for having provided a way for us to enter that heavenly, eternal home. Wouldn’t that be an appropriate prayer?


Ron Covey