Toilet Paper and Prayer

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”- Matthew 7:7 ESV

Allergy season is upon us! Both of our kids are dealing with runny noses and watery eyes. Natasha, my wife, and I are dealing with some sinus issues (her more than me because my immune system is that only written of in legends).

Norah, the one year old, refuses to let me wipe her nose. She moves around, she swipes my hand away like a Kung-Fu master, and she screams like I’m using a steel wool pad on her face. I’m not 100% sure if she likes the feeling of the runny nose or if she wants to test my reflexes and accuracy.

Liam, the three year old, is another story. He has become Mr. Independent, when he wants to of course, and wants to wipe his nose himself (of course his independence shuts off when he wants me to pick something up that is 5 inches in front of him).

Anyway, he has discovered how to use the toilet paper to wipe his nose, still waiting for him to use it for what it is originally used for, but he is getting pretty good at wiping his nose.

His nose was running and he yelled, “MY NOSE IS RUNNING! I have to wipe it!” He ran full speed to the bathroom on a mission. I hear the toilet paper roll move with authority and he came back with a small corner of a square to wipe his waterfall of nose dripping.

I asked him, “Where is your toilet paper buddy?” He proudly replied, “Right here!” as he proceeded to wipe his nose with mostly his hand accompanied by the toilet paper. I was pretty grossed out, but found humor in it nonetheless. I told him he needed to grab bigger pieces and it’s alright if he takes several squares to get the job done. He laughed and I went for more two-ply to finish the job for him.

This made me think of my prayer life and possibly yours too. When Liam ran for toilet paper, he ran with all his might, he spun that roll with authority, but in the end he only pulled a small piece away.

Do I do the same thing in prayer? I run to God with full energy and intention of going deep with Him. I start my prayer with determination of connecting with my Creator and use words that are not a part of my normal vocabulary. Then, after all of that, I only last for a few minutes and gain a small piece of what He probably wants to give.

I’m not comparing God to a roll of Angel Soft, but I am saying that at times, God is trying to reveal to us a giant roll of blessing, guidance, direction, etc., but we only take a small sliver from a square.

Perhaps we only ask for Him to do a sliver of a square when He is waiting for us to ask for a larger part of the roll? Our prayer life is limited because we doubt He either cares about the issues we face or we don’t trust that He will do anything about it, so we ask for so little.

You see, God is waiting for us to ask for more. He will respond in His time, but He wants to reveal so much to us in our faith.

If we truly consider God to be big, then we must not look at His willingness to answer prayer or be involved as so small.

Liam will learn to use bigger pieces to wipe his nose. May we learn to seek God with everything we have in order to discover everything He has in store for us!

Peace and blessings friends!

QUESTION: What keeps you from asking God for big things or seeking God to understand the big things in your life?