Hospitality

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matt 21:22

Do you find this to be true in your life? I do.

God is continually showing me the power of my prayers. As a result, I'm becoming more selective in what and how I pray. I expect him to answer because of the promise Jesus made. The other day, something awesome happened...

I'm reading through an old book called Hospitality: Expecting Surprises, by Michele Hershberger. I'm about a quarter of the way through and it's already changing the way I think about the topic. In one sentence she says this:

"Sometimes we don't to be hospitable because we fear the experience."

How true this is for me! Growing up, I was a latch key kid. I lived behind locked doors, always being wary of strangers. Hospitality is difficult because I have to push through so many unhealthy obstacles in my thinking. Sometimes I'm afraid to open myself up to strangers, and most times I just want to be left alone.

But I don't want to miss out on meeting an angel, so I'm trying to get better at it. The Bible says this about hospitality: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

Now, back to the praying part: On Wednesday morning, I went into my closet, shut the door and prayed, "Dear God. Help me to be willing to take risks in the area of hospitality. Help us to see strangers and meet their needs."

I expected him to answer that prayer.

At about 2:00 on Wednesday afternoon, my husband called. He said, "Hey hon. Two strangers, a man and a woman, came up to me and asked if I could give them a ride. Do you think I should?"

What?!

I got so excited I could hardly talk. I told him about my prayer and he said, "Well, I told them No. They have a backpack and look a little sketchy, but I just saw them walking down the road and it's just nagging at me that I should turn around and give them a ride."

We agreed that he should, and then my daughter and I prayed for his safety.

He called me about a half an hour later to tell me he was safe. They were a young, homeless couple and were grateful for the ride. They told him if he'd hadn't shown up, they would have had to wait three hours for the bus to take them to where they were going. They also asked if he had any work they could do. He also told me they smelled like weed.

I'm pretty sure an angel wouldn't smell like weed.  Also, I wonder why God answered my prayer through my husband?

Ultimately, I don't care because it's always cool to watch and see how God's going to answer a prayer. I look forward to his surprises, don't you?