February 2, 2000

DOWN HOME:
Bad weather precipitates
parent-child prayer duel
___The Bible promises, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16b).
___Nowhere do I find a verse holding out hope for the "desperate self-seeking prayers of a pair of teenagers." Maybe pledges regarding prayers of teens are chronicled in the little-known Apocrypha of Jennifer.
___At any rate, we faced off with competing prayers at our house last week.
___You remember Wednesday night. If you've got school-aged kids and an adult with a

MARV KNOX Editor

deadline-oriented job living under your roof, you pronounced competing prayers of your own.
___"I sure hope they cancel school tomorrow," Lindsay said, her chemistry homework spread out before her like reams of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
___Molly wasn't around, but I know how she prays in times like these: "Lord, give us mountains of snow."
___I had just spoken with their Grandmommie and Granddaddy, who live in east central Oklahoma. They were looking out on the greatest snowfall in a decade. For an instant, I think my girls actually wished they were Okies.
___But back to theology: Aren't you glad you're not God when it comes to choosing between the serious prayers of parents and kids? Offsetting prayers aren't uncommon, you know.
___Like when children pray for a pony and mom and dad have a backyard the size of a Japanese Bonsai garden.
___Or when the young 'uns pray to go skiing at Spring Break.
___And when 16-year-olds pray for red sports cars, and mom and dad can't read the newspaper without seeing stories about teen traffic accidents.
___Of course, the good Lord occasionally allows parents to answer teen prayers. We can say flat-out "no" to the pony, "maybe" to the ski trip and "when you grow up and get a job" to the sports car.
___Weather, on the other hand, is God's call. Parental authority has no more jurisdiction over snow and ice than a new head coach has over the Dallas Cowboys.
___When we woke up last Thursday morning, the elements appeared to confirm that my prayers had won out over Lindsay and Molly's. We had rain, but no snow or sleet.
___Unfortunately, the weather turned worse. I drove on ice near the office, and Joanna drove in sleet by the time she finished dropping the girls at school.
___"I wish this ice had come later," she said when she called to see if I arrived safely. "When the weather's like this, I just want everybody in my nest."
___Next time, I hope she weighs in on this weather-prayer thing. Seems like I've read that the insistent prayer of a concerned mother trumps the prayers of both a persistent father and a pair of teenagers. It's in the Epistle of Mama. Just look it up.
___Marv Knox
___Editor

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