Don't Make Them Send Flowers
Evangelical Bible scholar Howard Hendricks reportedly once told his son Bob, "Be so dependable that if you say you will be somewhere and don't show up, they send flowers."
Don't make them send flowers! "But let your word 'yes be 'yes,' and your 'no be 'no'" (Matthew 5:37, HCSB).
Different Questions, Same Answer
Chuck Swindoll poses several questions which he says are all different, yet share the same answer:
What will guard us against foolish extremes?
What characterizes those who are habitually successful in sports or sales or some skill?
What single quality in a business builds respect deeper than any other?
What brings security in relationships?
What makes us choose a particular brand name over all others?
What's needed most by parents in the home?
What draws you to the same restaurant time and again?
What do you want most from your paperboy…or milkman…or postman?
What will add more weight to your witness for Christ than anything else?
And, I might add, what one thing will most help you win tennis matches?
Dr. Charles R. Swindoll has served as pastor of some of our nation’s most prominent churches, chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, and Bible teacher on the internationally syndicated radio program Insight for Living. He has written more than thirty best-selling books, including STRENGTHENING YOUR GRIP, LAUGH AGAIN, THE GRACE AWAKENING, and the million-selling GREAT LIVES FROM GOD'S WORD series.
The answer, he says:
CONSISTENCY. That's the answer to all the questions, and you know it's true. Steadiness. … In biblical terms, constancy is a subtle, supple thread woven into the fabric of scriptural truth.
Let our model be Jesus. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Scribbled Prayers
One of the great privileges of serving as a deacon is the opportunity to be one of the first to pray over needs shared at the beginning of the worship service. Our congregation is invited to fill out prayer request cards which are available in each pew. They simply say, "Let us pray with you," leaving a blank space, with the prompt, "My request is ..."
A particular prayer request stood out to me. It was the scribblings of a young child filling out the blank prayer card as he sat in the pew. Just a squiggly line — up, down, and back and forth on the card.
I love the heart of a child eager to participate and share their scribbles for prayer. “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16, NIV).
It also reminded me that this is how a lot of my prayers must sound before the sovereign God. My praying must often be not much more than scribbles of unintelligible ideas and whinings when presented to Him. But I am glad that he knows them better than I do.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26, ESV).