God answers prayers. He answers in His way, according to His desires, and in His time. There are seasons when we do not align with any of those things. We want what we want and when we want it. We ask. We say we believe but I wonder if we do not wish more than believe. We offer prayers like random chances. Sometimes we hope God comes through and other times we half expect He won't help us.
I've spent three decades practicing prayer. I certainly do not claim to be an expert. I have learned a few things along the way. Real praying must be fueled by real faith. [Heb 11:6] We must learn to pray God's will if we hope to get answers consistently. [I John 5:14-15] It just makes sense that when we pray what God wants to do our prayers will be much more effective.
In recent posts, I talked about the ways God provided for Brenda and me during this season where she is recovering from surgery and unable to work. We watched God come through over and again. We were on our way to rehab yesterday when I asked how our finances were. She told me they were very tight and then she started crying. That is not unusual. I have kidded with her over the years that in the body of Christ she must be the tear duct. She was not crying because she was sad or stressed. She cried because God provided in another miraculous way that she had not told me about yet. Her boss gave her a $1,500 Christmas bonus. He has never given her anything remotely close to that in the past 13 years. God moved her boss through prayer to give to us during this time of need more than ever before. God did it again. I promise I am not making these things up. God hears our prayers. Her boss does not know how I've prayed. He does not read these blogs or watch our services. He has no idea. God did though. God used him to be the vessel of a miracle and he most likely is not even aware of it.
Every day we lean into God and trust Him to do what otherwise would be impossible or at least improbable. We have used this money to pay bills like car insurance (our largest monthly expenditure with five vehicles), Turner's last tuition payment for the semester, groceries, gas to go back and forth to rehab an hour away from where we live (that is what her insurance set up and it has turned into a ministry), and helping our sons out with car repairs and their needs. God sees all of it. He knows and He is able to provide for all of it. We don't have to go around dropping hints. We pray to God in secret and He has rewarded us openly.
I struggle at times to even write or speak about such testimonies not wanting anyone to misconstrue these as my attempt to play on people's sympathies and manipulate emotionally for money. I have to testify about what God has done and is doing. I am telling honest stories about what our Father does for us. He chooses to provide in the most creative ways. Cash in an envelope left in an abandoned office. Forgotten payment for a PE class where the mother was awakened in the middle of the night remembering she forgot to remit payment, and an extravagant Christmas bonus. I am humbled by His power and mighty ability. There is nothing that my or your family needs or will ever need that He does not already have in ample supply.
I assure you I am not making these stories up. They are not fabricated out of my imagination. They are real. Just as real as the keys on this keyboard under my fingers. Just as real as this office chair I sit in. Just as real as the aroma of the delicious food cooking on the stove we will eat later today. God hears and answers prayer.
He is able to do abundantly and exceedingly more than we ask or think according to [Eph 3:20] I for one am taking Him up on that offer. I have asked God for some really big things in the past. I have been asking for some really big things in the present. Some of them might shock you. It is our hope that with each answer our platform to testify about His faithfulness is enlarged. We pray others might be encouraged and inspired to keep believing God for greater things themselves.
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