Expect the Supernatural
In the summer of 1876, grasshoppers nearly destroyed the crops in Minnesota. So in the Spring of 1877, farmers were worried. Believing the plague would once again visit them, they feared the pests would destroy the rich wheat crop, bringing ruin to thousands of people. So serious was the situation that Governor John S. Pillsbury proclaimed April 26 as a day of prayer and fasting, urging every man, woman and child to petition God to prevent the terrible scourge. On that day, all schools, stores, and offices were closed. A reverent hush fell over all the state.
The next day dawned bright and clear. Temperatures soared to what they normally were in midsummer. Minnesotans were devastated as they discovered billions of grasshopper larvae wiggling to life. For three days the unusual heat persisted, and the larvae hatched. It appeared that it wouldn’t be long before they started feeding and destroying the wheat crop.
Perhaps some wondered if God was playing some cruel joke on them, since circumstances were moving in the opposite direction from their prayers. However, on the fourth day everything changed. The temperature suddenly plummeted, and that night frost covered the earth. It killed every one of those creeping crawling pests just as surely as if poison or fire had been unleashed on them. (Adapted from Partners in Prayer, John Maxwell)
Stories such as this abound throughout history. Time after time, the Lord has come through for His people. Perhaps we need to treat Christ’s promise more seriously when he affirms, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) Notice Jesus states, “keep on…asking, seeking and knocking” This isn’t a one-time act of “I tried it, and it didn’t work.” Be persistent.
Jesus isn’t giving us a magic formula, and God is far from being a giant “vending machine in the sky”. He’s not a co-dependent parent, granting us whatever we want. That would be unloving and destructive. But this absolutely is a promise from God and he absolutely will answer it! So what it does this promise from Jesus mean? Simply this. We need to live in expectation of the supernatural! When we pray, maintain the anticipation that our Lord IS going to do something amazing in our lives today. I don’t know how God’s going to do it, what it’s going to look like, or the direction God’s going to take. But we need to continually exist in a state of confident “mountain-moving faith”, assured that our Father hears us, cares for us and promises to answer…even if we’re plagued with billions of grasshoppers.