Could Have—Would Have

It wasn’t the first garment I made but the first dress. And this wasn’t just any empire waist, A-line style dress; it was for a “special date.” My mama agreed to let me make it and bought all the supplies I needed. All went well until I unpenned the pattern from the cut fabric pieces and saw that I didn’t place the dress top or bottom on the fabric’s fold—the front of my dress would have a seam. I was so disappointed in myself for not being more careful. I finished the dress, but that seam stared at me like glaring eyes. When I went to bed that evening, I asked God to please make that seam disappear so the dress would look right, but it was such an insignificant matter, a silly request; I didn’t think God would. And you know what? He didn’t. Did I believe He COULD have? Yes, I did; that’s why I asked Him. But I failed to ask in faith, believing that He WOULD. I didn’t expect God to come through with a miracle.

A father asked Jesus to heal his son but needed help with unbelief: “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:23–24). And you know what? Jesus healed that father’s son.

Mark’s Gospel also says: “Therefore, I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). No one but me noticed the seam on my dress. Although I penned a stylish, narrow gross-grain ribbon tied in a small bow with long streamers as a distraction, I knew it was there. The dress was and has been a reminder of a missed miracle, the power of prayer, and the right way to pray. James writes why God doesn’t answer some prayers: “Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). God hears our prayers. But sometimes, we ask Him for wrong things with improper motives.