The Blessing of Prayer (2)

When the invitation came again the following noon, they would not come. “That lady,” said one of the men, “is kind enough, but her talk about religion makes me ill. It is better that we don’t go to her house anymore.” The other said, “Her coffee is excellent, but to listen to her prayer is a burden. She must think that we are so very wicked, judging by what she says in her prayer!”

A struggle ensued by the painters between the desirable coffee and the undesirable prayer, but the attraction of the coffee was so great that finally, after much delay, the painters again entered the gardener’s dwelling. From then on they kept coming until their work was finished, and they, as they told each other, “were delivered from that pious praying.”

“Would her prayer bear fruit?” wondered the gardener’s wife. No, she need not worry about that. She did her duty; she had not been ashamed for the gospel of Christ and the outcome she must leave to the Lord.

A few years quickly passed. It is winter again and the snow is falling, covering the frozen ground with a thick, white blanket.

The gardener’s wife is sitting near her fireplace. Once in a while she looks outside at the beautiful snow and it makes her think of Psalm 147:16, “He giveth snow like wool.” She admires God’s power in nature, but little does she anticipate that today she will also see His power in the realm of grace.

Because of the snow she doesn’t hear that some people are approaching the house until, suddenly, two young men are standing right in the middle of the room. At first the gardener’s wife doesn’t know who they are, but when one of them asks if they may stay for a while, she recognizes the voice and suddenly remembers the two painters who, some years ago, were her daily guests. She looks at them in surprise and almost asks, “What are you doing here?” But already one of them answers, “Dear woman, we are not here for your coffee this time, but we are here to tell what the Lord has done for our souls.”

Soon they are all gathered around the fire and the painters related what they had experienced during those last few years.

The serious prayer of the woman was engraved in their conscience and they became more and more alarmed at the thought of having to appear before God. The Lord showed them clearly that the woman was speaking the truth and that they were living estranged from God and that they could not stand before Him in the judgment

No more vain songs were heard while they were working, but many times silent tears ran down their cheeks, while this prayer arose from their hearts: “Be merciful, O God, be merciful.”

The same young men, who never used to pray, now became secret wrestlers at the throne of grace, and pleaded for the salvation of their souls. Of them could be said what the Lord testifies of Saul of Tarsus, “Be hold, they pray!”

There was one very special and unforgettable moment in which the two friends became brothers. They were painting one day when one asked the other, “Why are you so quiet?” The other answered, “Why are you so quiet?” The first one, though hesitantly, poured out his heart to the other and told his companion that the prayer of the gardener’s wife burned in his heart as a fire. It condemned him and he felt he was a hellworthy sinner before God, but he also pleaded for mercy and desired to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Then the other told that he was feeling and praying the same way.

It is easier to sense than to describe what those two then felt! Sweet ties of brotherhood were laid and even though they did not know the words at that time, they experienced:

How pleasant and how good it is
When brethren in the Lord,
In one another’s joy delight And
dwell in sweet accord.

That night in the gardener’s dwelling, the same thing is experienced. Together they praise the Lord whose ways are past finding out and whose mercy endures forever.

The God-fearing gardener and his wife have long since entered into that rest which remains to God’s people. I don’t know if the painters are still alive, but if we would ever meet them before the throne of the Lamb, we will also have to know something of that heart-renewing work which God gives out of free grace.

And how is it with you, my dear reader? Has your heart been renewed already? We end this account with this word of Scripture: “The prayer of the righteous man availeth much.”

— Translated from Bewaar het Pand

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