Johnny Hall was a poor boy. His mother worked hard for their daily bread.
"Please give me something to eat, for I am very hungry," he said to her
one evening.
His mother let the work that she was sewing fall upon her knees, and
drew Johnny toward her. As she kissed him the tears fell fast on his
face, while she said, "Johnny, my dear, I have not a penny in the world.
There is not a morsel of bread in the house, and I cannot give you any
tonight."
Johnny did not cry when he heard this. He was only a little fellow but
he had learned the lesson of trusting in God's promises. He had great
faith in the sweet words of Jesus when he said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask
the Father in my name he will give it you."
"Never mind, mama; I shall soon be asleep, and then I shall not feel
hungry. But you must sit here and sew, hungry and cold. Poor mama!" he
said, as he threw his arms around her neck and kissed her many times to
comfort her.
Then he knelt down at his mother's knee to say his prayers after her.
They said "Our Father," till they came to the petition, "Give us this
day our daily bread." The way in which his mother said these words made
Johnny's heart ache. He stopped and looked at her, and repeated with his
eyes full of tears. "Give us this day our daily bread."
[Illustration.]
When they got through he looked at his mother and said, "Now mother, do
not be afraid. We shall never be hungry any more. God is our Father. He
has promised to hear us, and I am sure he will."
Then he went to bed. Before midnight he woke up, while his mother was
still at work, and asked if the bread had come yet. She said "No; but I
am sure it will come."
In the morning, before Johnny was awake, a gentleman called who wanted
his mother to come to his house and take charge of his two motherless
children. She agreed to go. He left some money with her. She went out
at once to buy some things for breakfast; and when Johnny awoke, the
bread was there, and all that he needed!
Johnny is now a man, but he has never wanted bread from that day; and
whenever he was afraid since then, he has remembered God's promises, and
trusted in him.
--_Lutheran Herald_