And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer - Matthew 21:22
How often I’ve prayed for so many things in life, and, truly, I have been amazed at the way God responds to my prayer. However, what about those prayers that haven’t yet been answered? Do you have any of those “unanswered” prayers? Most notedly might be a prayer for the world to finally be at peace, or for an assurance that it is safe to get out and get back to life without fear. It may seem a bit awkward for me to say this, but I don’t believe in unanswered prayer. I believe that God hears what we ask for, knows what we desire, and responds. The truth is more often than not, when I think about those “unanswered” prayers, they are answered, but the answer was or is something unexpected.
Perhaps I didn’t need to get out of that tough situation, perhaps that tough situation was meant to make me stronger. Perhaps I didn’t get the money I needed all at once, but over time I was able to pay for the things that were needed. Perhaps I didn’t need to be healed from that illness, but God used that illness to get me to slow down a few days. If we think about it, everything we have overcome in this life is an answered prayer.
Sure, God still works miracles in our lives, and we see them every day if we just look around us. However, God also answers our prayers in ways that seem conventional, and was that seems to be the ordinary course of life. I truly believe, it is when we see God working in ordinary, in the mundane, and especially in the unexpected that our eyes are opened to have a stronger faith in His presence that is with us every day. So keep praying, strengthen your faith, and know that God will hear and respond.
As we wait for God to respond, let’s also remember that God is waiting on us. God is waiting on us the make the changes, or do the things that God would have us do to bring about the change in the world we seek. If we are in need of patience, God may be giving us opportunity to learn such patience. If we are in need of forgiveness, God may be giving us an opportunity to forgive someone else. If we are need of a stronger relationship with our spouse or family, God may be waiting for us to choose to do something that would create that stronger bond.
No doubt about it, God is a miracle worker, yet God believes in us, as we believe in Him. Sometimes we need to believe in the goodness that comes from within, and express the love that we have known in faith to others.
Grace & Peace,
Sam