Grass: An Answer To Prayer

And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain, and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled. Deuteronomy 11:13-15 NKJV

There are so many things in these 3 verses that could be discussed: love for God, obedience to God, gifts God has promised. All of these are important and encouraging but I want to take a look at the last sentence, “And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.”

God has promised to care for those who love and obey Him. He has told us He will hear the prayer of the righteous (Proverbs 3:29). Many times, we have preconceived ideas about how God should go about this. We have the idea that when God hears our prayers, He should grant whatever request we have made. If we think we need a car, ask God and He will give us one. If we ask God to help us in a failed relationship, He will fix it for us. Of course, God is certainly capable of doing any of these things and more — more than we could even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). But it is interesting to note just how God says He will feed those Israelites who love and obey Him. Instead of sending food directly to their tables, He says He will send grass to their fields for the livestock. The result of the livestock being fed is that those who love and obey Him will be able to eat until they are full.

God may choose to answer our prayers the same way. He might not put food directly on our tables, but He might choose to give us the talent to have a job that will pay money that allows us to purchase food to put on our tables. He might not have that car that we desperately need drive up into our driveway but could set people in our lives who will be able to offer us the opportunities to allow us to purchase the vehicle ourselves. He might not turn our friend/husband/wife into the most charming person allowing our relationship to heal but He will help us grow closer to Him allowing us to become a better friend/husband/wife who overlooks flaws and builds the other up to the point that as we grow more lovable, they grow into someone we love once again.

Hindsight gives us the advantage of following the paths our blessings from God have taken. We can see that all the hours of hard work we spent developing our talents that God gave us has paid off to the point we can support our families. We can see that when God gives us the courage to take hold of an opportunity that is offered us can lead us to the place where we can afford some of the nicer thing in life. We can see that the relationship issue was not just the fault of the other person, but my own spiritual growth has made it easier to heal the wound that once caused the division between us.

In the future, pray for what we need but appreciate the path the prayer may take and see God’s answer in the grass of the field as well as the food on the table.

And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled. Deuteronomy 11:13-15 NKJV

There are so many things in these 3 verses that could be discussed: love for God, obedience to God, gifts God has promised. All of these are important and encouraging but I want to take a look at the last sentence, “And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.”

God has promised to care for those who love and obey Him. He has told us He will hear the prayer of the righteous (Proverbs 3:29). Many times, we have preconceived ideas about how God should go about this. We have the idea that when God hears our prayers, He should grant whatever request we have made. If we think we need a car, ask God and He will give us one. If we ask God to help us in a failed relationship, He will fix it for us. Of course, God is certainly capable of doing any of these things and more — more than we could even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). But it is interesting to note just how God says He will feed those Israelites who love and obey Him. Instead of sending food directly to their tables, He says He will send grass to their fields for the livestock. The result of the livestock being fed is that those who love and obey Him will be able to eat until they are full.

God may choose to answer our prayers the same way. He might not put food directly on our tables, but He might choose to give us the talent to have a job that will pay money that allows us to purchase food to put on our tables. He might not have that car that we desperately need drive up into our driveway but could set people in our lives who will be able to offer us the opportunities to allow us to purchase the vehicle ourselves. He might not turn our friend/husband/wife into the most charming person allowing our relationship to heal but He will help us grow closer to Him allowing us to become a better friend/husband/wife who overlooks flaws and builds the other up to the point that as we grow more lovable, they grow into someone we love once again.

Hindsight gives us the advantage of following the paths our blessings from God have taken. We can see that all the hours of hard work we spent developing our talents that God gave us has paid off to the point we can support our families. We can see that when God gives us the courage to take hold of an opportunity that is offered us can lead us to the place where we can afford some of the nicer thing in life. We can see that the relationship issue was not just the fault of the other person, but my own spiritual growth has made it easier to heal the wound that once caused the division between us.

In the future, pray for what we need but appreciate the path the prayer may take and see God’s answer in the grass of the field as well as the food on the table.