One of the things I do periodically is go someplace by myself for a few hours up to a couple of days to study, renew myself by being away from people, and spend time with the Lord. It is hard for me to think or focus when I am around people a lot. So I am over at Neskowin at a beach house which belongs to a friend. My son Sam, son-in-law Philip, and grandson James are here with me hunting elk. My original plan was to hike with them as they hunted, but I took a fall the first evening we were here and sprained my thumb, twisted my hip and back, and I am now walking like an old man. I am sure everything will be fine in a few days, but I can’t walk around in the woods with my boys just yet. So I am sitting in the house by myself as they hunt, having a very relaxing time. They are out in the wind and the rain, cold and wet, climbing up hills and over logs. I am contributing to their hunting success by praying they have a great time and will kill a couple of elk.

That is an interesting theological discussion. Is it okay to pray that my boys are successful in elk hunting? Jesus blessed the disciples while they were fishing, but I am sure the reason was more than just having a lot of fish; He was proving to them who He was. James 4:3 talks about wrong motives when we pray. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Does an elk fall under the category of pleasures?

I don’t know the answer to that one so I am going to go ahead and ask for two elk, big elk, two 6×6’s. I will let you know if my praying was successful or not.