Don’t Pray!
Adapted from The Streetlayer and Reverend Spurgeon
Religious Stories for Young and Old, vol. IV pp. 79-82
Today, we will continue our unit on The God Who Reveals Himself. We are thinking about the ways that God has revealed Himself to us so that we might know Him. Does anyone remember what Big Idea we began looking at? Here’s the Big Idea Picture from the front of the folder to give you a hint.
Our Big Idea is
‘God Made Our Heats to Know & Love Him.”
Story
Does anyone remember last week’s story? It was about how long, long ago, the apostle Paul revealed to the people of Athens that the Lord was the Unknown God was who they had once
offered sacrifices to, many years earlier. Paul told them about Him and about how through Jesus
they could receive forgiveness for their sins. Some of the Athenians turned to seek the Lord, the
true God and be saved.
Today’s story does not take place back in Bible times or in Bible lands. It takes place only about 125 years ago in London, England. London was one of the great cities of the world at that time. It was a busy, bustling, crowded city of tall, row houses connected together; of beautiful tiny gardens of magnificent roses and other flowers; and, of dirty, sooty air from all the coal people burned to heat their houses. The streets of London were not paved with black tar as ours are. They were cobbled streets, made of lots of heavy stone blocks. These blocks were laid down one by one, in neat rows on top of the ground to make a strong, sturdy road for bustle of people and horsedrawn carriages that filled the streets of London.
Our story is called The Streetlayer and Reverend Spurgeon. A reverend is the same thing as a pastor. And Reverend Spurgeon, you must know, was one of the greatest, most famous preachers, not only in London but all over the world. Thousands and thousands of people would jam into his church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, each Sunday to hear him tell about Jesus.
Many famous people, even the English prince himself, came to hear Mr. Spurgeon preach. You might think a man who was such a great preacher that even the prince, himself, wanted to hear him might be very, very proud. He might not want to talk to regular people, like you and me; and even more so, not lowly workers or servants. But Mr. Spurgeon was not like that at all. He was a very humble man who treated all people the same way. Why was this? Because like our Big Idea tells us, Mr. Spurgeon knew that God made every person from the lowest servant to the prince himself to know and love Him. He made each person with a heart that knew God existed and which was made to know and love Him. He knew that to know and love God was better than anything else that anyone –even the prince, himself!--could ever know or have. Every time he saw someone, he wanted to tell them about Jesus and encourage them to turn and seek Him. The other person in our story you need to know about is the Streetlayer. A streetlayer is a person who lays all those heavy stone on the dirt roads and makes them into cobblestone streets. Now this particular streetlayer was a largely cheerful man. As he pulled up damaged stones and laid down the new ones on the streets of London, he would sing in a loud, boisterous voice for all to hear and enjoy. But unfortunately, the Streetlayer did not always sing. If he smashed his hand between stones, his singing changed quickly to a bad temper. People would cringe as they listened to the awful curses that came out of the Streetlayer’s mouth. Far worse than even the Streetlayer’s curses was what was going on in the Streetlayer’s heart. Even though he, like every person, was a man God had made to know Him, love Him and enjoy Him, the Streetlayer, did not care to seek after God. God had even given the Streetlayer a wife and three children who loved God and wanted the Streetlayer to know and love God, too. But no matter what they did, the Streetlayer’s answer was always the same: “I will not pray!” He would never pray with them or join in their love of God. God, however, cared about the Streetlayer knowing and loving Him. And our story is about how one day, God used the Streetlayer’s bad temper, his refusal to pray, and Reverend Spurgeon to change him forever.
It all started when the Streetlayer sat down to eat lunch with his family. As they sat down to eat, the mother, boys and little girl prayed as usual before they began their meal. But also as usual, the Streetlayer refused to pray. His little three-year-old girl said, “Mommy, Daddy never prays with us; you must also teach Daddy a little prayer.” Well, this infuriated the Streetlayer and in a bad temper he said, “Say, you little rascal, don’t worry about me and my prayers! I will not pray!” and proceeded to thump her on the side of the head. How much that Streetlayer must have hated to pray if it made him angry enough to thump his beloved little daughter because of it! The next day the Streetlayer went to work as usual. He sang as usual; and he got angry and cursed as usual. But something was different that day. It was WHERE he worked. For the street he worked on that day was none other than Reverend Spurgeon’s street! All morning long, as Reverend Spurgeon was busy at home he would hear the loud singing of the Streetlayer; and then the loud cursing. “This is terrible! I must do something about this Streetlayer, but what?” thought Reverend Spurgeon. “If I tell him to stop cursing, he probably won’t listen to me. And what he needs even more than to stop cursing, is to know the Lord who made him. What shall I do?” As he thought, an idea came to him.
Reverend Spurgeon went out to the man and said in a friendly manner, “Good morning, sir. I am Reverend Spurgeon. What wonderful work you are doing on my street! It will be so much easier to travel on it was a result of your fine work. Everyone enjoys your cheerful singing as you work. But sir, your cursing is terrible! I suppose it shall be of no use to ask you to stop cursing, because you would not be willing or able to stop it. But, may I ask you something: Do you ever pray?”
“Oh, no, here come more questions about prayer!” thought the Streetlayer. Then he said to Mr. Spurgeon, ““Pray? No, I will not pray! That would never work for me, because you cannot pray and curse at the same time.”
“Now you must listen,” answered Reverend Spurgeon. “I shall give you three pounds in English money,nif you will promise me that you will NEVER pray in your whole life. I would offer you two pounds more if you will promise not to curse anymore, but I think you will not dare to risk that. Thus, understand this, the money is yours if you promise to never pray! As soon as you pray, you must promise me that you will give me back the three pounds.”
“What a strange request from a minister!” thought the Streetlayer. “Who would expect him to ask someone to promise to never pray?! Aren’t they in the business of trying to get people to pray? Strange request or not, three pounds is a lot of money. There is much a man like me could do with three whole pounds.”
The Streetlayer, being surprised, thought this over a few moments. Then he said, “Now, this sounds like an easy enough bargain. I can do this and easily earn the three pounds. Yes, I give you my word that I will not pray!” Reverend Spurgeon put the money in the Streetlayer’s hand and he eagerly put it in his pocket and went back to his work. The rest of that morning Reverend Spurgeon listened to the Streetlayer. He still sang somewhat, but not as loudly as before, and soon Reverend Spurgeon did not hear him curse anymore at all. What had Reverend Spurgeon done?! Had he really wanted that man to never pray? Didn’t he remember that this Streetlayer had a heart made by God to know and love Him? If this man would not pray, then how could he ever seek after God and know Him? Let’s see what happens. Perhaps there was more to this promise than first appears.
At noon, the Streetlayer went home to join his wife, two boys and little girl for lunch. Usually he came home singing or whistling, but not this time. He was too busy thinking about his promise to Reverend Spurgeon: “Never pray! Never pray! I will not pray!” Something about that promise bothered him. Deep in his heart he knew that there was a God and he should seek Him to know and love Him. He had made a promise to never speak to this God for three pounds. The Streetlayer lost his peace of mind. As the Streetlayer joined his family at the table for lunch, he noticed that the chair of his little girl was empty.
“Where is Mary?” he asked.
“She is in bed,” Mother replied. “She had such a severe headache this morning that I had the doctor come.”
“And what did he say?”
She replied, “He does not know yet whether it is meningitis or a brain concussion; he did ask whether she had a hard fall and had bumped her head. She must stay in bed and lie quietly with a wet cloth on her head.”
The Streetlayer did not answer. But he was thinking about what had happened the day before when he had given her such a hard thump. Was he to blame for his daughter’s illness? Did he thump her too hard? And why? Because his child prayed and she wanted her Daddy to pray, too! Again he thought of what he had promised Reverend Spurgeon: “Never pray, never pray! I will not pray!”
He did not say anything to his wife about his promise or the money, but it was as if those three pounds began to burn in his pocket. What had he promised, just for three pounds?! The Streetlayer was too upset to eat. He got up from the table and went to see his little girl.
“Good morning, dear, how are you? Do you have a headache? Get better quickly,” he said.
The child looked at him with large sweet eyes. She nodded a few times, and then said, “Hello, Daddy,” which nearly broke his heart! What if she died, it would be his fault! The Streetlayer went back to work, but he could hardly work. “Your fault, your fault,” hammered in his ears! “Never pray; never pray! I will not pray!” His fellow workers noticed how upset the Streetlayer was. They asked him what was the matter. He told them about the serious sickness of his little daughter. They all felt sorry for him.
“Would you believe,” one of them said, “this streetlayer is not nearly as hard as he looks. He has a mouth as sharp as a razor blade, and curses like a dragon, but when it comes right down to it, his heart, is as soft as wax.”
When the Streetlayer hurried home at the end of the day, his child was worse. The girl was lying in her little bed, delirious from fever. Mother was sitting at her bedside and was holding her warm hand.
They went and sat at the table, and the youngest child prayed. “Lord, bless this food, and will You please make Mary better?” Especially the last part of this little prayer cut through the heart of this Streetlayer. “Lord will You make Mary better,” continually repeated itself in his heart, while a voice within attacked him, saying, “That is praying, and you promised to never to do that. Remember: ‘I won’t pray! I won’t pray!’ Think about your three pounds.”
The Streetlayer got up from the table and went back to his daughter’s side. Her little face cringed from the pain she was suffering.
“Oh, Lord,” he began to pray; but, quickly he caught himself: “No! Prayer is not for me; not for me. I must not pray! I won’t pray! I won’t pray!”
He left his daughter and tried to find something to get his mind off of her and off of praying. He went to the barn, he went back to the house. He tried to read the newspaper. But, no matter what he did all he could think about was Mary and not praying. The wonderful God who made him and gave him a heart made to know and love God back was working in the Streetlayer’s heart.
“I cannot pray, but others can!” thought the Streetlayer, as he got ready for bed. “Wife, how is Mary now? You have also prayed for her to get better, haven’t you?” The Streetlayer’s wife could not believe her ears. Her husband asking if she had prayed!! Who would ever believe this?!
“What do you mean, husband? Why are you caring if I pray?” And then he told her everything—all that was weighing upon his heart, all that had happened with Reverend Spurgeon, the money, and the promise.
The next morning, the Streetlayer got up early and headed to Reverend Spurgeon’s street. But, instead of going to work, he went up and knocked on Reverend Spurgeon’s door. “Reverend Spurgeon, here are your three pounds back. I cannot keep my promise.” confessed the Streetlayer. He then told Reverend Spurgeon the whole story about his daughter and what the Lord had done in his own heart. Reverend Spurgeon, himself, came to see little Mary and pray for her. In the end, Mary got well. Best of all, the Streetlayer came to believe in the Lord had made him to know and love Him.
Our Big Idea is: God Made Our Hearts to Know and Love Him
Our Scripture Verse is:
Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
What about us? Do you think God made us to know and love Him, too? Yes, of course, He did.
Our hearts also were made to love and know Him best of all. We were made with hearts thirsy for God. We were made to meet with God!
But we, like all people, have chose to disobey God. We want to run life our own way. And what do we
deserve from our good and holy God? His eternal punishment! Oh, but how merciful God is too! To all who turn away from disobeying God—who repent of their sins– and trust in Jesus as their own Savior, God offers forgiveness for their sins!
And if we do, He will fill our hearts with His Holy Spirit so we can know and love Him forever! And then we will be truly happy and peaceful from deep within our hearts, living and enjoying God as God means for us to! Let’s praise this wonderful God who made us to know and love Him. Let’s ask Him to work in our hearts that we might have the incredible joy of knowing and loving Him, too.
