Call unto Me

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Phil 4:6

A hospital chaplain was doing his rounds. A new patient, a young boy, had entered the ward who was dying. The chaplain visited with him and asked if he might sit by his beside to chat. The patient nodded in approval but asked that he not sit in the chair close to his bedside.

The next day the chaplain visited again. The boy’s health was deteriorating. They got talking about Christianity and the Chaplain was happy to find the boy had a strong faith in Christ. As they talked the dying boy spoke about his prayer life. He said he talked constantly to God. He liked to imagine his Heavenly Father with him in the room. In fact, he imagined Him sitting in the chair beside the bed and that is why he preferred people not to sit there. The chaplain nodded and smiled as he listened to the boy’s story.

The next day the chaplain made his rounds but was met with an empty bed when he came to visit the boy. Enquiring with the nurse he was told that the frail boy had died during the night. The nurse reported, “It was a little unusual. We found him looking very peaceful but his head was resting on the chair beside the bed.”

Reflecting on this story, we should be reminded that God is so present in our earthly journey and nothing should be beyond the scope of prayer. Prayer should be the most natural activity, almost as basic as breathing or conversing with a friend. As with the dying boy in my story, whatever our concern you can be sure it is the concern of our loving God. If it is big enough to lose sleep over, or be anxious about, it’s big enough to pray about. Worry about nothing, says the apostle Paul, and pray about everything. Nothing to everything, now that is an open ended invitation!