Do What You Can Do – Part 2
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. – 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. – 1 Timothy 2:1-2.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. – 1 John 5:14-15.
One of the very most special people that God placed in my life was my great aunt Carey Hall Wrather. I did not know her very well, and my first memories of her were after her husband, my Dad’s uncle had a severe stroke. We began to visit them more frequently then. They lived about 100 miles from us, so it still was not that often. My great uncle’s stroke had left him unable to communicate. He could dress himself, and he could eat; however, he did not seem to actually recognize anyone. Adair lived for about 15 years after his stroke, and Carey took care of him at home during that time. Adair grew up on a farm, but for most of his life he worked on the railroad.
When I was 40 years old, I made public God’s call upon my life to preach the Word of God. Soon after, I was sharing this with my parents, and that was when I learned of the prayers of my Aunt Carey. After I told my parents about my decision, they did not seem all that surprised. They then said that my Aunt Carey had been praying that I would not miss God’s call to preach! I later learned that Carey had been praying first, that I and my son would come to know Jesus as our Savior, and then that we would not miss God’s call to preach. She said that she was doing this, because Adair had always felt like he had missed God’s call.
About that same time, we learned that my three great grandfather, Baker Wrather, had been a Methodist evangelist and pastor. Baker was Adair’s great grandfather, and I am sure that Adair would have known about this. Baker was born in Virginia but lived most of his life in Tennessee. Baker began his career in ministry with an evangelistic trip in the very early 1800s, through Kentucky, and into Illinois. We know that he was the pastor of McKendree Methodist Church in Nashville in 1810, and later several other churches in Tennessee.
I believe it was because of my Aunt Carey’s prayers that I and my son, Clark, came to know Jesus as our Savior. I believe it is also because of her prayers, that we have both heard God’s call to preach His Word.
Do what you can do this year. Pray! Pray for yourself as Jabez did, but also pray for your family, pray for those around you, pray for God’s missionaries, pray for the leaders of the countries across this world, and pray for the lost to be saved. Pray, pray, pray, pray and pray some more. Pray more than you ever have before, because this is something that you can do, and it will make an eternal difference!