Fill ’er Up!

Fill ’Er Up!

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. . . . For everyone who asks, receives.

Matthew 7:7-8

Several years ago, when I was speaking at Moody Bible Institute, a lady wrote me a note saying, “I didn’t worry about getting married. I did leave my future to God’s will. But every night I hung a pair of men’s pants on the bed and knelt down and prayed this prayer: ‘Father in heaven, hear my prayer. And grant it if you can. I’ve hung a pair of trousers here. Please fill them with a man.’” Isn’t that a great letter?

I read that letter the next week when I got back to the church I pastored in Fullerton, California. It didn’t really fit my sermon; I just rammed it in because I thought it was such a great letter.

The father and older son of a family I knew were in the church service, but the mother was at home with a sick daughter. When I read the woman’s note, I watched them. The father just cracked up laughing, but the boy was rather serious.

Interestingly, several weeks later, I got a letter from the mother, who hadn’t been in that service. She wrote, “Dear Chuck, I’m wondering if I have something to worry about. I’ve noticed that our son, when he goes to bed at night, has this bikini hanging over the foot of his bed.”

It’s amazing how people today are often afraid to ask God for the desires of their hearts when he has plainly said, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.” And while this story may seem frivolous, at least this young man was taking God at his word—something we could all learn to do better.

—Charles R. Swindoll

Heavenly Father, hear me now as I pray and ask you for what I need the most. I know you hear me and that you will answer. I need . . . you! Amen.