Read: Matthew 7:7-11

Keaton watched a frog as it hopped around the yard. When it stopped, it blended in with the grass. If Keaton looked away, he had a hard time finding it until it started hopping again.

When Dad got home, he joined Keaton on the porch. “Hey, Keaton. How was your day?”

Keaton shrugged. “I just spent the last half-hour playing hide-and-go-seek with a frog.” He sighed. “Not that he ever tried to find me.”

Dad sat down on the step. “Sounds like an interesting game. How about a contest to see who can find the frog first?” Keaton nodded, and the two spent the next several minutes trying to spot the frog.

“Thanks for playing with me, Dad,” Keaton said after the frog hopped underneath the porch. “It’s a lot more fun than playing by myself.” He kicked at a stick in the grass. “I’m thankful you got a new job and we got this nice house, but I miss my friends from our old neighborhood.”

“I know,” Dad said, patting Keaton on the back. “Have you tried praying about it?”

Keaton frowned. “Doesn’t God already know what I’m going through? Why doesn’t He just give me what I need without me having to ask Him for it?”

Just then Keaton’s stomach let out a loud grumble, and he and Dad laughed.

“It sounds like you’re as hungry as I am,” Dad said. “I’m sure Mom has something for dinner, but she won’t bring it to us out here. We have to go to the table. Sometimes that’s the way Jesus does things too. He always knows what we need, but sometimes He waits for us to bring our worries and problems to Him first.”

“Why?” asked Keaton.

“To help us look to Him as our Savior and trust Him to provide us with everything we need—even when He doesn’t give us exactly what we ask for.”

Keaton’s stomach growled again. “Okay, Dad. I’m ready to go in for dinner. But first can we pray and ask God to help me make some friends?”

Dad nodded, and they bowed their heads and prayed together.

The next day when Dad got home from work, Keaton was sitting on the porch with two other boys his age, all of them trying to spot the frog.

–Melissa Yeagle

How about you? Do you bring your worries and problems to God? Do you ask Him to provide the things you need? He already knows exactly what you need—and sometimes it may be different from what you ask for. But He still wants you to bring your needs to Him so you can learn to trust Him in all of life’s situations. Jesus loves you and gave His life to save you. In Him, you have everything you need.

Today's Key Verse: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)

Today's Key Thought: Bring your needs to God