July 12. Frederick Robertson. Frederick had a reputation for studying hard. He memorized the entire New Testament—in English and in Greek. And he was enthusiastically evangelical. On this date in 1840, he was ordained by the bishop of Winchester and began preaching at once.
Do you sometimes wonder whether God answers prayer? Pray.
When Frederick was a little boy, he often hunted with his father. Every time the dogs were sent out to scatter the birds into the air, little Frederick prayed that his father could shoot the bird and kill it, so they could take it home. Sometimes the prayers would work; his father would shoot his gun and kill the bird. But sometimes the prayers didn’t work, and the bird would fly away, and Frederick felt disappointed.
Young Frederick got discouraged. Why did God listen to some of his prayers, but not others? Did God really care?
When Frederick got old enough to go to school, he carried this secret doubt with him. But then one day the schoolmaster called Frederick and nine other boys to the office. They were all in trouble. Something had happened at the school.
Frederick’s guts knotted. He hadn’t done anything wrong.
He never would. Boys who caused trouble were flogged in front of the whole school. The shame. Being labeled a troublemaker. He felt overwhelmed.
Waiting to see the schoolmaster was the worst. Frederick’s mind raced to figure out what to do. If he told the truth, would the schoolmaster believe him? What if the old schoolmaster ignored the truth, and Fredrick was flogged anyway? He felt sick.
It was his word against the school’s and the schoolmaster’s. He wasn’t sure any grown-up would take his side.
He sat and waited, wondering what else he could do. He thought of trying to pray … as unsure as he was that it would work. Would God listen to such a minor request? Would God even care about a school punishment, even if he wasn’t guilty?
Frederick decided to try it. He prayed desperately that God would help him escape the punishment and shame of flogging, and Frederick hoped that God would hear him.
The schoolmaster stepped out and brought the boys to be flogged. As the ten stood and waited, with Frederick at the head, he came face-to-face with the schoolmaster. But as the schoolmaster looked at him, a strange expression came upon his face, and he almost looked surprised that Frederick was there with the other troublemakers.
“Little boy,” the schoolmaster said, “I excuse you; I have particular reasons for it.”
Some adult stepped up and ushered Frederick away, and the other nine boys were flogged in front of the whole school. Frederick never did find out what reasons the schoolmaster had for sparing him.
But Frederick did realize that God had heard his prayer—even though it was only about a minor incident. And for the three years he was at the school, he was never flogged.
“That incident settled my mind for a long time,” Frederick said. But eventually, he became a man and thought as a man, and he realized that prayer wasn’t a good-luck charm or a carnival game—make a wish and win a prize.
And it didn’t make Frederick immune to bad things happening. Somehow the fact that God heard Frederick’s prayers was about the fact that Frederick was connected to the Creator of the universe. “It did not make me better; it simply gave me security.”
He felt confident that God was listening. No matter how scary things got, God would take care of him and give him strength to face any difficulty, big or small.
The psalmist wrote: “But he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!” (Psalm 66:19 TLB).
Think of how prayer has affected your life. Has it made you more secure in your faith? Do you sometimes wonder whether God answers prayer? Pray.
Robertson, Frederick W. Life and Letters of Frederick W. Robertson. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865.
ChristiansUnite. “Frederick W. Robertson.” Accessed June 5, 2020. http://articles.ochristian.com/preacher535-1.shtml.
Story read by: Daniel Carpenter
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https: //authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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