Answers to Prayer

Are you as guilty as I am? You pray about this, that and the other. Sometimes out of habit, sometimes passionately. “This” is your main focus. You want is so badly. You pray daily…thrice daily…hourly. No answer, no answer, no answer. But “that” gets answered. Only you don’t think much about it. Because there’s still “this”… And my All Sovereign, Loving God gets no glory once again.

And so I am sitting here to give God glory. First, I will say that “this” has not yet been answered. I pray for it a lot. I long for it. I hope for it. It’s a bit scary, but God knows how much I want the road blocks to go away. How much I want Him to clear the path. How I long for a sure “this is the way, walk ye in it”. But just because He is not saying yes to “this” right now does not mean He should be shorted any glory for “that”.

Because salvation is from God. And God alone. And salvation is something we all pray for. The salvation of parents, the salvation of brothers and sisters, the salvation of friends, the salvation of orphans in Kenya. If you’re like me, sometimes you’ve prayed for salvation for a soul for so long it seems it will never happen, you convince yourself it’s impossible and you even stop praying. I feel that way about a lot of people. Some days it’s only because Ethan pulls the request for “Salvation for our family and friends” out of the prayer box that it crosses my mind at all. Which is sad. Because God does answer prayer.

The request in our box is generic. I think we’d fill the whole prayer box and then some if we wrote down the names of every “family and friends” we know are not saved. And sometimes when we pray we’re specific, but God can answer generic. He doesn’t need specifics. Because He alone knows who is actually His and who is not. And He answers prayers.

Last week I talked to a good friend in Minnesota. Although we text, it’s been at least a year since we had talked. It was far too brief a conversation, but it was a staggering one. Because she told me God had saved her husband’s soul. I was stunned. Wasn’t her husband already saved? I hadn’t had a chance to get to know him really well while I was in Minnesota, but I thought…she had never indicated differently…had I completely missed something? But, no. She had not realized either. Until recently. God had a laid a prayer on her heart, the prayer of salvation for someone. When she realized “someone” was her husband, God was already at work! She said what happened was amazing!

When I told Ed the story, he asked a few questions and then remarked, “Well, isn’t that what we pray for in our prayer box? The salvation of our family and friends?”

I hadn’t thought of that, but he was right. We do pray for that. Most of the time, I have a face or name in my head, but how do I know whom God may save? How do I know how God may answer a prayer? He is sovereign. He is good. He saves.

To God be the glory!