1 Timothy 2:8

"I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."

The phrase in this scripture that stands out to me is "without wrath and doubting." Do we pray without doubting?

It was the summer of 2004 in Austin, Texas. My 2 year old son Spencer was smack in the middle of a full year of chemotherapy for a rare childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. My oldest daughter Annie was 4 years old, and my youngest daughter Sophie was 1. I normally had a neighbor friend watch my girls while I went to the hospital with Spencer for treatment, because the days were long and it was hard to manage three small children in a hospital environment all day long. But this particular morning we had gone in for a "quick" appointment to check Spencer's blood levels. It turned out that he was, once again, severely low on blood and needed a transfusion. So, our morning trip ended up being an all day trip. My youngest two didn't get the naps they needed and we finally hit the freeway to make the 30 minute drive home right around 5pm, just as rush hour hit I-35.

Spencer (2) was nauseated from the chemotherapy and not feeling well. Sophie (1) was crying because she hadn't napped and was overly tired. Annie (4) was hungry, because we had not brought any food to the hospital with us and so she hadn't eaten well. We were all overwhelmed and exhausted from a long and trying day. Just as we pulled on to the freeway, traffic came to a complete stop. We were not going anywhere. I don't remember exactly what I said, but I know that I voiced my frustration at being stuck in traffic. My 4 year old piped up from the backseat, "Why don't we say a prayer, Mom?"

I'm ashamed to admit that my first thought was, "How do I explain to my 4 year old that God has more important things to do than control traffic on I-35? If we're going to pray for something, there are bigger things to pray for, and the Lord isn't going to trouble Himself with rush hour traffic on a Wednesday afternoon." Instead I said, "Okay. Why don't you say a prayer, Annie?" Her quick response was, "You say it, Mom."

Sighing, I conceded and said a quick prayer, asking Heavenly Father to help us get home safely and to help make the cars move. I closed the prayer and immediately traffic started moving. Within the minute, cars were moving at freeway speeds again and I was left feeling overwhelmed with humility. I have no doubt that it was because of the faith of my 4 year old that my prayer was answered, and not my own (lack of) faith. I had wondered why Heavenly Father would answer such an insignificant prayer. But, I realized that He wants to answer our prayers. He wants to help us out when He can. He didn't take the bigger trial of Spencer's cancer diagnosis and treatment away, but He answered little prayers and provided blessing after blessing along the way to ease the burden and show that His hand was still in our lives.

We do not need to doubt. Our Father loves us and wants to help us. We can ask in faith, without doubting, for His help. He is there. He will hear your prayers. He will bless you.

Love,
Sister Jones