Troublesome Topic: CHOOSE WATER FROM A DEEP WELL

True prayer is not happy or easy, but it is true and deep, like a deep well.

When we were living in Nicaragua, my dad heard about a 55 year old man who was digging a well through solid stone using a 16 pound steel bar, a small shovel with a tiny handle, and a bucket on a cable. He refused to be let down or pulled up by the cable, instead he climbed down and climbed up using holes he had made into the wall of the well.

The morning my dad took me along to visit this man we only talked to the man’s son because we got there too late and he was already down in the hole (so I never got to meet him, but I think Dad talked to him later). His son told us the following things about this well being dug in the mountains: The depth of the well at that time had reached 600 feet and still no water! When he started this project, the father expected to hit water between 600 and 800 feet. So he knew it would be a deep well before he even started. He also told us that his dad could see the stars on a sunny day from down in that hole! That’s how deep it was.

What a sacrifice to get fresh water!

But what a blessing it was when the cool water began to flow!

What pure perfection of liquid refreshment! No contaminants, no chemicals.

Don’t settle for drinking water from a drainage ditch just because it’s easy. Ditch water will have lots of contaminants, animal urine and toxic chemicals in it.

Asking for favors is like drinking water from a ditch. The impurities in it are the ways in which it can cause us to become more self-centered.

Water from a deep well is fresh and pure, no chemicals, no negative spiritual impact.

Asking for favors is usually emotionally charged expectation; true prayer is deeply settled rightness. True prayer is not emotional; it is a burden for others, a calling characterized by humility. Asking for favors will often cause us to grow more self-centered, but true prayer will always draw us closer to our Creator.

The last lesson in this series is BIGGER BETTER HIGHER DEEPER