A poor woman stood at a gate that overlooked a vineyard. As she was standing there, the owner of the vineyard walked up. “Would you like some grapes?” he asked.

“I would be very thankful to receive some,” the woman replied.

“Then bring your basket.”

The woman left and soon returned to the gate with her basket. The owner took it and was gone a long time among the vines to the point that the woman became discouraged, thinking that he wasn’t coming back. But when he returned, the basket was heaped full.

“I apologize for making you wait so long,” the man said, “but the longer you had to wait the more grapes you received.”

That’s how it is with prayer. We bring our empty “basket” and give it to God. Sometimes it can seem like He’s waiting a long time to answer our prayer, and sometimes our faith faints with the waiting. But when the answer comes, our “basket” is heaped full of luscious blessings. We sometimes have to wait a long time so that He can bring us a better answer.