The only survivor of a shipwreck was washing up on a small, uninhibited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but noneseemed forthcoming. But he kept praying. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.
Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.
Is prayer something we use only to solve impossible situations? When and if we cannot change situations ourselves? We may think prayer is a final bid for something desperately needed, a last ditch effort instead of rightfully placing it as first priority. Like the man in this story some people think God does not hear our prayers or if He does, we cannot see how He can or will fulfill them. Being human we want to have Him answer immediately. We don’t want to sit back and wait.
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