The Prayer

Stephen sat in his office, surrounded by piles and piles of papers.  Legal documents were scattered to and fro and he was doing his hardest to concentrate on his work. He was supposed to be reading a lengthy contact reguarding Ramsey Bank, but every time his eyes found that name his mind would jump back to a red haired woman with hazel eyes.

It had been an absolute joy to see her enjoy the baseball game. Watching her take it all in was almost like watching a child.  Ramona had not had much of a childhood seeing that it had been lost in the shadows of her brother’s death and her mother’s insanity. He had wanted to give her a fun experience so she could forget about all her troubles for a day. He could tell that Ramona was haunted constantly by the ghosts of her past, and at times dark shadows would cross her bright eyes. He guessed that at those moments she was thinking about her mother. It made his heart ach when he saw how sad she would get.At times he had to stop himself from reaching out and holding her tight. He knew that the rules of society stated that the most he could do was hold her hand and steal a few kisses here and there, yet he wanted more than that. He wanted to hold her so that some of her worry would be given to him.  

He had never cared so much about another person in the world. As a young man, he had buried his head into books, working hard to get where he was, not caring about what happened on the way to success. Even his former fiancé, Caroline, had been a tool to get farther in life. When she had left him, his eyes had been opened to just how selfish he had been. Stephen had almost turned to drinking when a friend of his brought him to the church he attended. Stephen had not really wanted to attend a protestant church service, seeing as his family was Catholic, but it was there that he found what he had been looking for his whole life. 
 He found faith.
 And it was that faith in Christ that had softened his heart and opened his eyes. That had been a year and a half ago, and now he could not imagine his life without his faith.  Every Sunday Stephen would walk down the street to the tall steapled building, with fine stained glass, and friendly people. He had sat in that church hours, even at night when people had left and the streets of Boston were quiet, praying for his family and studying his Bible.

Stephen reached down into a drawer of his desk, and found the now worn leather book. His Bible had been given to him by members of the church and was beginning to fray a little. He carried that book with him almost everywhere, and when he had a spare moment he would take it out and read it.  In those pages he had discovered truth, and most importantly he had discovered love. When he had been courting Caroline he thought he had been in love with her, now he realized he had only lusted after her, not that he had ever acted on it.  She had never cared deeply for him either,  as their marriage had all but been arranged. 

He opened his Bible to 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter dedicated to love.  The chapter described the characteristics of love and what it means. It was one of his favorite passages, espicailly the last verse which read:

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  He sat there for sometime, the contract now forgotten, reading the chapter and taking in every word. It was as if the words on the page were breathing new life into his very lungs, into his soul.  He bowed his head in prayer.

Father, you have given me so much in this world, so much that I have taken it for granted. You say in your word that love is the greatest of all things, and you demonstrated that for us when you sent your son to die on the cross. I know I have taken not only your love but the love of my family for granted, and I am asking you now Father, to please let me not make that same mistake again. Lord, you said in your word that it is not good for man to be alone, that we need someone to walk the road with us. Is Ramona the one I am meant to be with Lord? You know my heart, and so you know me, and you must know that I am falling in love with her. Is she the one?

He sat there in the silence of his office, waiting for a reply. He knew God did not always answer right away, but he would listen for the still small voice when it came. Not everyone heard the voice of the Lord, because people forgot to listen for it. But ever since he had been saved Stephen had listend and heard. Now he waited in the quiet of the room, waited till an answer finally came.

Yes.  

Chills shot threw his spine and a rush of absolute joy swam threw his veins. The Lord had given him an answer and he felt it in the depth of his soul. She was the one, the one who he would make a life with, the one he had been praying for.