Prayer in the Dark

Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

As a young married couple, Donna and I took our newborn daughter, Lori, from Nampa to Lewiston, Idaho for a baby dedication and a five-generation picture. Sunday night we were driving home on a dark, unfamiliar road when the transmission on our car went out. I pulled the car to the side of the road and turned off the lights. Everything seemed so dark. I had to be at work in the morning. We had almost no money. My wife and daughter were in danger. There was absolutely no traffic around, and cell phones had not yet been invented. All we could see was blackness.

Perhaps you can only see blackness in your life right now. Friend, God answers prayer in the darkest night.

As we sat in that dark car we prayed to God that He would work things out for the very best, not knowing what that could be. We opened our eyes and a light appeared ahead of us. It was a porch light from a farmhouse. We got out of the car and walked toward it. In my mind, I pictured a mean farm dog and a grouchy farmer opening the door. Instead a friendly dog, wagging its tail, and a young man about our age, greeted us. They had us call our family, then pulled our car into their garage. The next day, I rode around with Donna’s Uncle Harold looking for an old, wrecked Ford I could pull a transmission out of for $10 (hopefully). We finally found a rebuilt transmission at a gas station for $35. Donna’s grandpa, Pastor Tom Weatherby, said, “I want to buy that for you.” We returned to the farm and the young man said, “I want to put that transmission in your car for you.” We returned home with a better car than we had left with. God’s idea of the very best was so much better than mine.

Maybe God has a better idea for you than you could even hope for. Paul is writing this letter to the Philippians from prison. Earlier in the letter (Philippians 1:12-13), Paul wrote, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places.”

Not that President Trump is spreading the gospel, but it is interesting that the more wickedness that is thrown at him, the more he rises in the polls. Paul had a bigger goal than saving a nation and making it great. He had the same goal as Jesus, to save the whole world from hell. He could rejoice in prison while others were out preaching the gospel (Philippians 1:18). From his prison bondage he wrote to the Philippians, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me” (Philippians 1:29-30).

In our darkest night, we still need to close our eyes. It is then in prayer that His light will come shining through. 

There is an old boogie-woogie song by Al Dexter (1947), “The New Broom Boogie.” In it he sings:

Does the world look dark through your window pane? When you look for the sunshine all you see is rain? When you go to fold your hands, wait until you do, listen to the rhythm of the new broom. Sweep, sweep, keep a sweepin’ Jack, there’s a blue sky ‘neath the clouds of black, so sweep, sweep, sweep away the blues, to the boogie rhythm of the new broom.

It has a catchy tune, but it doesn’t work. When you can’t sweep away the darkness—many have tried with alcohol, drugs, and other diversions, even self pity— it is time to fold your hands. 

God really does answer prayer in the dark!