Complimentary Story
Summer 2025People who know me might say that I have some defining characteristics. Rising to the top (hopefully) is my faith, followed closely by my love of people – some say I’ve never met a stranger, and then in third place it’s likely a tie between my love of good coffee and my fascination with sea shells.
I’m spending the week at Myrtle Beach, SC with some friends. It’s not particularly known for its shelling, but if you look closely enough, there are some beauties just waiting to be discovered. One of my favorite kinds of shells on this portion of the coast is called a baby’s ear. As I walked the beach today, the shells were elusive. Being of the mindset that God cares about all the details of my life and likes it when I check in with Him, I decided to ask Him to help me find a few baby’s ear shells. It wasn’t more than a minute later that I found two of them gently perched at the high-tide shell rack line. Thank you, Jesus!
It struck me, as I picked up the dainty shells and put them in my pocket, that after I had asked God to help me in my hunt, I continued to look. I didn’t ask and then lift my eyes to the horizon. No, I asked God to do something on the beach and then I kept my eyes firmly planted in my search. God answered affirmatively and I was prepared to see and receive that blessing.
How many times do we have a heart full of faith to ask God to move, but then we don’t keep our eyes open to see how He is answering our prayers. We must have hearts full of faith and eyes to see. God will surely respond to our prayers. Will we have our eyes open to see what and when He answers?
Elisha was a prophet in the Bible who understood this. He had a heart full of faith and eyes to see. Seemingly surrounded by the enemy, he was not worried because he had faith and vision. So much so that he was able to share it with his young servant.
2 Kings 6:15-17, “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
O Lord, give us hearts of faith and eyes to see! We will keep those eyes open because we believe that You care about all the details of our lives — the big battles and the small victories, our needs and our desires. Brothers and Sisters, talk to God about the details of your life, believe that He loves you and loves to hear from you, and keep your eyes open to see how He responds to those conversations.
What would have happened today if I had prayed, but then had failed to keep looking? I suppose that God’s answer to my prayer would have just been left behind, laying on the beach for someone else to find. I’m so glad that I had faith to pray and kept my eyes open to see His answer.
God is always faithful to answer the prayer lifted up in faith. But often, after we ask Him to move, we move on and forget to look for His response. We ask Him to act on our behalf and then we either don’t look at all to see His response, or we longingly gaze at where we think the answer should be, hoping to manifest our own will through our prayers.
Having a heart of faith, we believe that God hears and answers. Having eyes to see, we look intently for the move of God. O Lord, gives us an increased faith to come to you with every aspect of our life; and open our eyes to see Your response!
Colossians 4:2 (ESV), “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
Ephesians 6:18 (AMP), “With all prayer and petition pray (with specific requests) at all times (on every occasion and in every season) in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition (interceding in prayer) for all God’s people.”
Chris McMahan,
Email: Happy1970@icloud.com
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