Prayer and praise

During the Gulf War Crisis, I taught a 4th grade CCE class. 

On the last class day, Bennye, an inquisitive little girl with great faith, brought me a book she’d gotten from her uncle.  The cover was half torn, its pages splattered with mud.  The book had accidentally been dropped on the way to class. 

Bennye had wanted to give me something to remember her by, she said.  Her uncle, in his early 20s, had told her how much he’d enjoyed the book, so she’d asked to have it to give to me. 

I was genuinely touched, so I told her I’d treasure it always.

Out of sight, out of mind

When I got home, I put the book in the top drawer of my chest of drawers.  I figured I’d see the book daily, so I’d get to it once the school year was over.  Yet, the school year ended, I taught summer school, and the book remained in limbo.  I’d felt guilty for a while, until I simply ignored the book.  I just wasn’t interested in reading Bennye’s book during that time. 

Timely discovery

Five years passed.  I was unexpectedly faced with such an insurmountable dilemma that something made me see the book.  I thought back to the day Bennye gave it to me, and then I noticed the top righthand corner of the inside cover where she’d printed her name.  

I began reading the book, and the more I read, the more engrossed I became.  I just couldn’t put the book down!  I read and re-read the book many times.  It was truly the treasure in a secret place to which Isaiah (45:3) had referred. 

Lost and found

Thus began my journey with There’s Dynamite in Praise (Gossett, 1974) until, sadly, I lent the book out in 1998 and never got it back.

Then last week, as I searched for links for our church website, I found the title online. 

I was thrilled. 

Monday I ordered it, and Wednesday… just two days ago…
I received the copy along with a most delightful note from GramGramWhite (Margie), the seller in Keystone Height, FL.

Dear Book, go upon your way over mountain, plain, or sea.  God Bless all who speed your flight to where I wish you to be and bless all those beneath the roof where I would bid you rest; but bless even more the one to whom this book is addressed.

Walking in faith

I immediately emailed a thanks.  I told Margie I’d waited a long time for this book.  I wanted to share it with others because its simple message transformed my thinking: Prayer is asking, praising, and continually walking in faith. 

“Amazingly, I discovered greater blessings, more joy and more marvelous things happening as [I] praised the Lord…” (Gossett, p. 16). 

So here’s to unabashedly praising God just because.

WP blog…  St. Joseph Church…  Petitions…  Praise…  Prayer

WP posts…  Faith and prayer…  Prayer and praise…  Prayerful ways…  Two angels

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