Episode 27: Unexpected Answers to Earnest Prayers
I heard it said once that there is no such thing as an original artist or creator. God is, after all, the one who created everything we know and use and see. Therefore, we are only re-creators of what He has already made… notes into melodies, colors into paintings, landscapes into photographs, words into poems… In a sense, we are only capturing a single variation of His his endless masterpiece; creation. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that God is equally as creative in His answering of prayers. I should clarify, too, that when I talk about prayer, I am talking about earnest and fervent prayer. Not just some passing request tossed up like penny in a wishing well. God isn’t a personal genie or a slot machine of gambling to meet your needs. Prayer is a beautiful part of the relationship we share with God. It is the line of communication by which we talk to Him, worship Him, thank Him, confess to Him, and truly, to petition for His increasing presence in our lives. What many people don’t realize is that we can and should ask God how He wants us to pray. Many have likely never considered asking what He wants to say to us in our prayer time! It is a relationship like any other, involving two sides of communication. How surprised people would be if they only began asking God to speak to them rather than sending up a laundry list of their own personal needs! God desires intimacy with all of his children. And prayer is where it begins. I suppose I was well into my adult years before I realized much of what I just shared. I mostly went to God when I was heartbroken enough to ask for His comfort. Otherwise I was praying for loved ones. But the idea of a two-way relationship was never really on my radar. I grew up in church and even knew the Lord’s prayer by heart. But it wasn’t until my relationship deepened that God began revealing more and more about who He was and what a daily relationship with Him could look like. In many ways, its just as simple as I tell my children it is… you just talk to God. Any time, any place. And here’s another discovery I made. The Lord’s Prayer? The one I mentioned knowing by heart (and often even praying aloud with my team after ballgames)? That prayer is actually known as the model for prayer. I’m sure at some point, I had heard this but had never made the connection until I began to earnestly study the Bible. Jesus actually gives us this prayer as an example of how to effectively pray! Starting with Matthew 6:5, I”ll read the whole passage including an extra line or two through verse 15 The entire prayer can be broken down by line. But the verse that sticks out most powerfully to me is verse 10.. You may be most familiar with the version that says: Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, in years’ past, I’d never never given this line much thought. What’s incredible though, is that it means that our most effective prayers are the ones that come into alignment with God’s will in heaven. In other words, God has a will and a design for us down here on earth. He has plans and purpose. Our job is to come into agreement with what those things are. When we pray God’s heart, it brings heaven to earth. How beautiful is that?! We play a part in God’s plans. We get to partner with Him to bring about His kingdom here. Like I said earlier, God is the ultimate creator of all and has infinite ways of answering earnest prayers. He loves to use the unexpected, I think, because it expresses not only His sovereignty, but also His creative nature. If you don’t believe me, just let me give you one of many examples of God’s answering in my life. On today’s episode, I share a story in hopes of encouraging you that there are real answers to earnest prayers. Thank you to our sponsors! Abide: Download Abide Sleep and Pray Meditation today by texting my promo code UNEXPECTED to 22433 today to get 25% off! Awana: Try one FREE month with promo code: HANNAH on TalkAboutDiscipleship.com.
