Did She Love Him Enough to Wait

Mary Warburton Booth, a missionary to the abused girls and women in India, received a received a letter from the mission board requesting that she “close down some of the work and cut down expenses.”*

She sat down before the Lord and asked Him what she should do. She must have a specific answer. She knew that she needed to have this prayer “prayed through and that this is the most difficult kind of praying.” She had to know what God wanted her to do. She wanted to know if she should close down some of the work or trust God to provide even if the mission board could not. She wanted His will—nothing less and nothing else.

Would she pray until she knew God’s answer? As she put it, “Did I love Him well enough to wait for Him?”

Mary went to prayer to ask for a definite answer of how to proceed with little finances. She described her difficulties:

“The hindrances to prayer in India are legion. The calls are imperative; the climate exhausting, and the insect life so collective that you are reminded always that you have a body and mosquitoes love you and insects visit you.”

Although our distractions are different they are just as real. We fight with wandering thoughts, emails to answer, sleepiness, phone calls, and too often a lack of concern that is absolutely essential if we are to continue in prayer until we know God has heard.

Mary knew she must pray or fail—that she would either pray through or give up. And so she waited before Him until He gave her His plan. God led her to gather the twelve teachers together and she read over and over to them God’s promise in Malachi 3: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse and prove me now, herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Would the women give one-tenth of their rupees each month? How could they live on only nine? They read it again. “Bring all the tithes.” It was God’s voice to them and they promised to obey.

When payday arrived and the women received their meager pay, they were not only ready but eager to pay their tithes. Mary said it was if a burden had been lifted and they were filled with expectancy. God not only used their money but money from unexpected sources began to arrive.

Mary’s day of continuing in prayer resulted in wisdom for her next step, the women’s willingness to obey Scripture, and ultimately her ministry’s future success.

“Jesus, help us to love You enough to continue in prayer until we know You have heard and the answer is on the way.”

“Be persistent and devoted to prayer, being alert and focused in your prayer life with an attitude of thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2 Amp.).

*She tells her story in her book Take This Child.