“Dear Jesus, please help Aunt Brittni find her glasses.”

Three year old Lucy had been occupied setting up the Dora’s dollhouse in my family room when something (or should I say Someone?) prompted me to ask her to pause for a moment and pray with me for Brittni’s lost sunglasses. She was upset because not only were they new, they were expensive—her big birthday present that Jonathan had given her just two weeks ago.

With our heads bowed, and with Dora the Explorer and her pals Diego and Boots silently looking on, we asked the Creator of the universe to graciously hear what to some may seem like an insignificant request.

That evening, Greg and I were out to dinner with some friends when the answer to Lucy’s and my prayer came via text from Brittni:

“I found my glasses . . . Jonathan had forgotten he had put them behind the visor in his car for safe keeping!”

Just a few months ago, I was the prayer director for Harvest America, a nationwide evangelistic outreach. Much prayer had been offered on behalf of all those who were inviting their loved ones to hear the gospel simulcast from Angel Stadium to over 2400 venues across the United States. What happened exceeded our expectations and tens of thousands of commitments were registered for Christ!

I wonder how it is that God not only hears and graciously answers the “big prayers,” like those for Harvest America, but also simple, ordinary requests for lost glasses. Not only does He hear those small prayers, but He delights in them!

I am amazed when I consider the mind-blowing miracles Jesus preformed while he was on this earth. One in particular touches my heart. The cry of a poor leper, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” And with a loving touch Jesus replies, “I am willing; be cleansed!”

“Lord, if you are willing . . . ” This applies to all our requests. We don’t know how the Lord may choose to answer a prayer for a nation, the salvation of a soul, or help to find lost sunglasses. (I can only imagine the angels must smile at such small requests.) But I do know this: I have learned there is no request too big or too small for Him to hear. He delights and welcomes them; never once does He say, “Not now, I’m too busy!”

I read a little poem by John Newton recently that may be helpful to remind ourselves whenever we hesitate in praying big or small prayers:

“Thou art coming to a King

Large petitions with thee bring;

For His grace and power are such,

None can ever ask too much.”

. . . or too little!

As Martin Luther is quoted, “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.”