Churches are not exempt from getting telephone calls from solicitors. These callers often do not know that they have dialed the number of a church, and their standard sales pitch does not quite fit the situation.

Just the other day, the church phone rang, and I did not recognize the out of town number. Suspecting it was an unsolicited sales call, I answered the phone anyway, giving the caller my name and the name of the church. The background chatter I heard and the fact that the person on the other end of the line didn’t respond immediately to my voice deepened my suspicions that I was talking to someone who would try to sell me something.

The salesman obviously didn’t hear my initial greeting, which, once again, contained my name and the name of the church. His first question was, “May I speak with the owner”?

I have a sarcastic streak, so I almost replied, “Sure, you can speak to the owner any time you want!” However, my nice side won out, and I explained that he was talking to someone at a church. After assuring him that I would not be making any financial decisions at that time, we pleasantly ended the phone call.

However, you can talk to the owner of the church any time you choose. If you know him.

“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”—John 16:23.