References to Prayer in Heidi

I've been reaquainting myself with some of the classics in preparation to read them to Nikki, and I just finished reading Heidi. There is a dialogue on prayer between Heidi and Clara's grandmother that spoke to me, and kind of emphasizes what I was most challenged about in my prayer life last semester.

Heidi (The Whole Story edition)
pp.146-147

"And do you pray to Him every day to make you happy again?"

"No, not any more"

"I'm sorry to hear that. Why have you stopped?"

"It's no use, " Heidi told her. "God didn't hear me and I daresay that if all the people of Frankfurt pray for things at the same time, He can't notice everybody and I'm sure He didn't hear me."

"Why are you so sure?"

"I prayed the same prayer every day for a long time and nothing happened."

"It isn't quite like that Heidi. God is a loving Father to us all and knows what is good for us. If we ask for something it isn't right for us to have, He won't give it to us, but in His own good time, if we go on praying and trust in Him, He'll find us something better. You can be sure it's not that He didn't hear your prayer, for He can listen to everybody at once. That's part of the wonder of it. You must have asked for something He thought you ought not to have at present and probably said to himself, 'Heidi's prayer shall be answered but only at the right moment so that she will really be happy. If I answer it now perhaps later on she'll wish she hadn't asked for it because things may not turn out as she expects.' He has been watching over you all this time--never doubt that---but you have stopped praying, and that showed you did not really believe in Him..."

Then speaking to her grandfather later, Heidi says, (p.191)

"If God, had let me come back to you at once, like I asked in my prayers, none of this would have happened. I should have brought Grannie a few rolls I had saved, but they would soon have been gone, and I wouldn't have been able to read. God knew what was best, just as Clara's grandmamma said He did, and see how perfectly He arranged everything. I'll always say my prayers after this, as Grandmamma told me to, and if God doesn't answer them at once I shall know it's because He's planning something better for me..."


These passages from Heidi reminded me of this passage from scripture:

“And so I tell you, keep on asking,

and you will receive what you ask for.
Keep on seeking, and you will find.
Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds.
And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
(Luke 11:9)