I Prayed

Okay, I spent last weekend at a swim meet with very limited parking. We’re talking such limited parking, people resorted to parking on the street, outside the parking lot, under that sign that explicitly said, “No Parking At Any Time.”

My husband drove around and around, looking desperately. We’re not afraid of walking, but this was ridiculous. There was no place to park, unless maybe we parked five miles away or parked in the “No Parking At Any Time,” area. We didn’t want to risk it.

As my husband’s agitation grew, I told him he could go on in, and I would try and find a spot. He asked me if I was sure. I said I was. I don’t have to drive to work everyday, so I have more patience. Just go, I said.

So, I dropped off the hubby, then began a prayer. I asked the Lord for a parking spot. There were no spots, ANYWHERE. It was one of those deals, where you turn down a lane, and three cars are ahead of you, also looking for parking. If someone does leave, you are back three cars and have zero chance of getting a parking spot. But I kept up my prayer, asking God for a parking spot. I probably drove about ten minutes, up and down the different lanes, behind two to three cars, doing the exact same thing. The situation was bleak.

But for the believer, God hears our prayers. He knows our every thought. He knows our every frustration. He knows the number of hairs on our head.

I decided to head down to the farthest end of the parking lot, and work my way back through the lot, again. As I went passed a lane that was probably closest to the entrance, there at the end of the lane, was a wide open parking spot. I quickly jetted in there. I looked up in front of me for the “No Parking Sign.” There wasn’t any. I looked up the lane. There were three cars coming the opposite direction, all lined up at the other end of the lane. I got out of the car, to look for the red curb (the direct warning, that no one can park here). There was no red curb. There was no handicap sign. There was no sign telling me I couldn’t park here. This was a legitimate empty parking spot, in the middle of an insane parking lot, where cars were circling round and round like vultures flying over a dead cow in the desert. Nobody had seen this spot. I hadn’t seen the spot, until I was right upon it. How could nobody see this spot?

Well, I prayed. I take seriously the admonition to “Pray without ceasing.’ Or, the verse in Philippians 4:6:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Some of you may be hesitant to ask God for such trivial things. I want to encourage you not to be. God is a big, big God. He is able to hear every single one of our prayers. He hears every single one of the billions of prayers that are prayed every second of the day. Every single one of them. He is powerful, to answer every single one of those billions of prayers prayed. God is greater than all of our needs. There is nothing He can’t handle. And, He asks us to pray. He asks us to pray for the big things in our lives. He asks us to pray for the little, seemingly insignificant things in our lives, like parking spots.

If God asks us to pray for everything, why don’t we? I want to encourage you to do this. Don’t worry that God’s too busy. Don’t worry that your prayer may seem tiny or insignificant compared to the big huge problems in the world. He says to call upon Him, for everything.

Soon after I dropped off the hubby, I came walking into the pool. I sat down next to him, and he looked at me with a puzzled look in his face.

Hubby: Where’d you park?

Me: I parked in the lot, really close to the entrance.

Hubby: How’d you get a spot like that?

Me: I prayed.

I flashed him a great big smile. God is always good.