On the morning of his death, Ayrton Senna read his Bible. He believed that God spoke to him very clearly that morning through his word. Ayrton was convinced that God was telling him that he had a gift for him, the gift of himself. Well, by the end of that day Ayrton had gone on to meet his Lord.
Pete Greig also talks about the gift of God himself, when he looks at the issue of why we sometimes need to keep on praying for something. Greig recounts an old Jewish story that looks at why God sometimes is slow to answer our prayers.
There was a king who had two sons. Each son came to his father to make requests. The first son is granted his wish by his father as soon as he appears in his doorway. This son is really held in low esteem by his father. The second son is invited in by his father and spoken to. The father takes delight in his son's presence and is keen for him to stay for a while. The father is so moved with love by his son's presence that he quickly gives him what it is that he needs.
God is not emotionally insecure. He does not need us at all. He is complete in himself. However, the story is a good illustration of the way God sometimes works in our prayer life. He delays an answer, not because he is mean or needy. He delays so that we might come closer into his presence. So that we might receive the ultimate gift that he as to give. This is not the gift of an answer to a worry about an illness, or a better job, or a date with the blond girl down the road, although all of these things can be important. The ultimate gift that God has to give us is the gift of being with him and enjoying him. We begin to receive that gift when we draw near to God in prayer.
Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. From the Westminster Catchecism.
John Martin-Jones
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