I'M told that in the Austrian Alps there's one mountain that looks strangely like an old woman.
The story is that there was an old lady called Frau Hitt who was very rich and loved riding round her estates feeling pleased with herself.
One day she met a poor woman who begged for something for her baby. Frau Hitt threw a stone at her saying:
“Give your baby this” – and rode off laughing at what she considered a good joke.
But then the storm clouds gathered over the mountain, and when they finally cleared there was Frau Hitt, turned to stone.
At this time of year we have two occasions in the Christian year concerned with asking.
May 17 is Rogation Sunday (which means Asking Sunday) and the following Thursday is Ascension Day.
An essential part of the message of Ascension Day is that God always listens whenever we pray, and as the old chorus puts it: “He’s never too busy to hear what we say.”
He certainly isn’t a stony-hearted old skinflint like Frau Hitt, but let’s also remember that there’s more to prayer than just asking.
St Paul has a memorable verse about asking God for things in prayer: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
We can let our requests be known in everything; there’s no question of God only listening on a limited range of subjects. We don’t have to be afraid of asking for things when we pray.
But let’s make sure our requests also include thanksgiving as well as asking. Let’s recognise what He has done for us before we start asking for things. When we do that, our prayers will always be more cheerful as well as more realistic.
