A woman pulled out of the church parking lot only to remember that she had left her purse in the pew. She immediately turned around and went back to the church. But the purse was already gone.
Just as the woman turned to leave, the priest came over and held out her purse and asked, “Are you looking for this?”
“Why yes,” she replied, “Thank you.”
“I thought I had better pick it up for safe keeping,” the priest explained.
“Why, Father, surely my purse would have been safe in church. No one would steal from the church would they?”
“No, no,” said the priest. “I don’t believe anyone would steal. But knowing what prayer means to this congregation, somebody might just consider your purse a direct answer to a prayer.” A God Provide?
Sometimes children see a direct answer to their prayers. One child felt that the storm raging outside his home was caused by a direct answer to his prayer request. “I did this!” he gleefully exclaimed. “I prayed for this storm. And it worked! This is fun!”
But as the storm persisted all afternoon long, the boy ran downstairs and asked his mother nervously, “How long is one prayer good for?”
