The Audacious Prayer of an Orphan Girl (Sermon Illustration)

We should not hesitate to pray audacious prayers if we truly believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful God.

The following is a true story from Helen Roseveare, who served as a missionary doctor in Zaire, Africa for 20 years:

One night Helen worked to help a mother in labor. She did all she could, but the woman died, leaving her premature baby and a devastated two-year-old daughter behind.

Keeping the baby alive would be difficult. They had no incubator, no electricity, no special feeding facilities, and nights were often chilly.

All they had were blankets and an old, hot water bottle. But when they went to fill the hot water bottle, it broke!

There were no drugstores anywhere nearby and nothing they could do.

All they could do was put the baby as near the fire as safely as possible, and sleep between the baby and the door to help block the drafts.

The next day, as she did most days, Helen went to the orphanage to pray with the children. Before praying, she told them about the problem with the baby and the little girl who lost their mother.

During the prayer time, a ten-year-old girl named Ruth said an audacious prayer:

“Please, God,” she prayed, “send us a water bottle. It’ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby’ll be dead, so please send it this afternoon… And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?”

Helen was shocked. Deep down, she did not believe that God could do that. Sure, he can do anything. But this? There were too many problems.

The only way this could happen is if someone sent them a hot water bottle. Helen had been working in Africa for nearly four years and had never received a package from home. And even if they did send a package, who would think to send a hot water bottle to the equator?

But that afternoon, while she was teaching in a nurse’s training school, Helen received a message that there was a car at her front door. When Helen finally arrived at her house, the car was gone, but a large box was sitting on the verandah. Tears welled up in her eyes. Could it be?

In the excitement, she sent for the orphanage children to come see what was in the package. Together, they carefully opened the box.

On top were brightly colored, knit jerseys for the children. Then, knitted bandages for the leprosy patients. Her hope began to fade.

Then, she reached into the box and felt it. A brand-new hot water bottle!

Helen cried. She did not ask God because she did not truly believe He could do it.

Ruth, who was with the children watching, cried out, “If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!”

She rummaged through the bottom of the box and her eyes lit up as she pulled out a beautiful little doll. She never doubted.

The package had been sent five months ago by Helen’s former Sunday school class. The leader obeyed a prompting from God to include a hot water bottle, and one of the girls put in a doll for an African child. This all happened five months before the audacious prayer of a ten-year-old girl to receive it that day.[1]

 

[1] John Van Diest, Do You Believe in Miracles? (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2012), 43-45.

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