Where Is Your Faith?

For a couple of weeks, it had been very, very hot. People were suffering so much. Members of the local church were all praying and praying for rain. After they had been praying for about a week, during a meeting of the entire congregation, the priest said, "You have to pray very hard for rain. If you pray sincerely, rest assured that it will rain."

The people continued praying most sincerely, but still there was no rain. Finally they got angry with the priest and said to him, "We have been praying and praying sincerely, but still there is no rain. That means you are wrong!"

The priest replied, "No, I am not wrong! You people are wrong!"

The people argued, "How can it be that we are wrong?"

The priest said, "Look here! You are praying to God for rain. Do you have any faith in your prayers? You should have brought your umbrellas. If God fulfils your prayers right now and if it starts raining heavily, then what will you do? You will all be soaked and you will suffer miserably. How can God protect you and fulfil your prayers at the same time? Where is your faith in your prayers?"

After that, the people all brought umbrellas.