So here’s a thought for you... we have been told many times that God answers prayer. And sometimes we believe it. But let’s be honest - sometimes we don’t.
Over the last lot of months we have had pain and depression and death and discomfort on a level few of us have had before. We have been taken away from the normal lives we used to live, thrust into a lockdown and ultimately still lost people that we love.
And in all of this we prayed.
We prayed that God would heal the sick.
We prayed that God would cure the virus.
We prayed for protection for our families and for front line workers that we’ve never met.
Some that were sick recovered. Some didn’t.
God hasn’t given us a cure for the virus. Yet.
And some of those front line workers, and some in our families, died.
So - does God answer prayer?
I have always believed that He does, and He has three answers - yes, no and wait.
Yes - there are miraculous stories of people coming out of hospital, of places becoming Covid-free, of life being a little easier.
Yes - we have been blessed with family time like never before, and that has brought families closer, even if it’s through technology.
And yes - people have been saved by the amazing work of our front line doctors and nurses in the NHS, and we truly do thank God for them.
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No - we have all despaired at the number of lives lost during this. BUT we need to remember one thing. We are told in Job 14:5 that:
“You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.”
Job 14:5 NLT
Every single one of us has a set time. And when that time is up we will be taken home. So while we mourn and grieve - and I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that is - take comfort in the fact that they lived, were part of our lives, and now are at home with the King.
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And wait... I think this can be the hardest one. We pray and we pray to the point that we believe God isn’t hearing us anymore but nothing happens. We beg and plead. We cry out to Him and ask Him to work a miracle.
We give up because there is just nothing.
BUT we are reminded in Psalm 18:6 -
“But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his
sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”
God always hears us. But sometimes we just don’t hear Him saying wait.
Look at our verses at the start again.
““In that day, I will answer,” says the Lord.
“I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds.
And the sky will answer the earth with rain.
Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain,
the grapevines, and the olive trees.
And they in turn will answer,
‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’”
Hosea 2:21-22
Imagine the olive tree. It is gasping for a drink. Longing for it. Needs it to live.
But it gets nothing. And so it waits. And waits.
But now notice how God is answering - He does it in stages - He answers the sky as it longs for clouds, then they can answer the earths plea for rain, then the earth gets to bless the olive tree with a drink.
God could easily supply water for the tree, but uses the sky, clouds and earth to do it.
And I believe, as we wait on Him, He uses is in other people’s lives, and then in ours.
Just think of all the coincidences that have happened in your life - were you happened to meet someone who told you their story... or you happened to be in the right place at the right time for something special... or that moment when you felt you needed to pray for someone, and something miraculous happened.
This is real life. These are the miracles that happen every single day. This is sometimes how God chases to answer prayer.
So yes - I believe God answers prayer. And sometimes we get to be used by Him to do it.
How cool is that!!!
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