Twenty years ago, I had my first real encounter with God.  I was 10 years old and in my final year of elementary school.  When I took the middle school entrance examination, I didn’t know the answers to most of the questions.  Afterward I felt sad and discouraged, but my mother encouraged me and said it would be okay.  She told me to pray, “God, you are my father and mother.  Help me in my examination.”  I took the prayer seriously, saying it for many days until the results of the exams were published.

My mother went to the school admissions office to check my exam results.  She came home and said to me, “You made it!  God heard you!”  My joy knew no bounds.  At that moment, I felt like Paul and Silas who, with no hope of release from prison, turned to God in prayer.  To the amazement of the warden, the prison doors flew open and chains broke off one after another until the men who were bound became free.

After this childhood experience, I imagined God as a big creature who hears all prayers.  That picture has stayed with me over the years; and whenever I shut my eyes to pray, a confidence builds up that God hears me.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to know that you hear us when we call.  Amen.