Jesus Said, "Yes!"

This morning I am thinking about the story I heard a man tell on the radio.  He shared how he was engaged in a conversation with his wife while driving home from church one Sunday.  From the back seat, their young daughter interrupted with a question.  “Can I have some candy?”  His wife answered the child glibly, “Why don’t you pray and ask Jesus about that?”  Then he and his wife continued their conversation.  After a few minutes, their daughter interrupted again, with this joyful announcement: “Jesus said, ‘Yes!’”  I’m not sure if the mother’s suggestion for her little girl to pray came from a place of sarcasm or sincerity.  What does seem clear, however, is that the child was not deterred by the question.  In fact, it seems the question empowered her.  She took it to heart that all she needed to do was ask!  As I sit here, I acknowledge that this is not always the case with me.  When there’s something I really desire, the question typically occurs to me also: “Why don’t you pray about it?”  Instead of praying, however, I sometimes do a number of other things.  I strategize, and I rationalize.  I pine, and I whine.  I doubt, and I pout.  I sigh, and sometimes I cry.  The lyrics to an old hymn come to mind:

 

“O, what peace we often forfeit.  O, what needless pains we bear

all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

I imagine the little girl, riding in the back seat of her parents’ car, didn't forfeit one bit of peace.  Having been invited to ask, she essentially declared what she desired.  I believe there’s much to be said for the faith of a little child, and today I won’t miss the lesson.  It’s just a part of life that I will sometimes find myself in the backseat of circumstances beyond my control.  In those times, questions may be presented to challenge my faith.  But there, in my most vulnerable moments, I have the power to pray.  There, even in my most vulnerable moments, I can still shout with a triumphant testimony, “He said, ‘Yes!’  Jesus said ‘Yes!’”  And maybe, just as that little girl’s faith encouraged me, my faith may encourage another.  I’m going to pray and ask Jesus about that.