I remember hearing a success coach once say at a seminar....
"God's delays, are not His denials."
Powerful stuff, especially when it comes to prayer.
The Christian life is filled with prayer. Jesus taught us how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13) It's part of the walk and relationship we have with the Lord. We are to come before Him humbly, and prayer is one way to build that relationship.
Yeah yeah yeah....That sounds wonderful, and lovely but....Does this stuff actually work?
"Ask and it shall be given you..."
Seems biblical enough but how does prayer work?
Look, I'm no theologian, so don't expect some college paper on this topic. Instead, I'm going to share with you some prayers that God actually answered for me over the past decade plus.
And while they didn't just pop ou of thin air when we expect them to, God does seem to answer them....Even if it's on His timing, not ours.
Here's a few prayers that have been answered in my own personal life. Obviously, this is personal...But what I wanted to highlight in this post is that this crazy God stuff, actually works...
My Wife & Kids
Obviously this comes first and foremost. I didn't have what you would call the best relationships growing up. So when I reached a certain age, I literally prayed to God to find my wife. I was sick of the dating game and wanted to settle down. And I wasn't searching, but we found each other.
2 kids later and almost 10 years of marriage, it's been such a blessing!
My Job
Can you say right place and right time? I've written about this quite a bit over the past 6 months, and it's why I haven't been around as much on chain. But what God provided for me with my new career, has been such an awesome experience so far. After 7 years of stress, struggle and trying to figure out where my next dollar would come from, I'm stress free because of the job that God literally put in my lap. Lots of prayer, lots of 'why am I still struggling' questions...God knew the perfect place for me!
Swearing
Yeah, I had a sailors mouth. When I was in the world, every second word was an F bomb. I wanted to change. Swear words literally became like toxin when I would hear them....So I prayed, Psalm 141:3, over and over again. And guess what....
I didn't happen overnight, but there is most definitely a guard over my mouth now!
Reading The Bible
Now this was something I wanted to do since I ever first heard that there was thing called 'the bible'. But I put it off. I said for years, I want to read through the entire thing but alas....
God answered prayers. I asked Him to create in me new habits. Where I put His word first. And make it a priority in my life. Devotionals are cool and all, but I wanted to make sure no matter what...I stayed the course and read through the bible.
I did that last year, and I'm about to do it again this year :)
Addiction To Social Media
Whatsoever is pure, of a good report, is just....Think on these things. That's my super short version of Paul in Philippians 4:8 but that always hit me. I need to be thinking of good things...I need to fill my mind with things of heaven, not of the world.
Easier said than done. Let's all be honest with ourselves a bit here, we are all...Kinda sorta addicted to this stuff. And while there is great stuff online, that adds value to our lives, there is PLENTY of garbage.
So it started every Sabbath, I would turn the phone off and stick it away in my desk. The only 'media' I would have would be books and my bible. And then it grew from once a week to not 'needing' social media, to basically ignoring it all now lol
Prayerfully, and VERY slowly....God worked on me. I have taken quite the turn when it comes to my social media exposure and creation. Sure, I still hang out here because this chain is awesome. But overall, I don't do much on Twitter if anything now. I don't have Instagram and I'm way too old for TikTok lol
Now some may look at all these and just shrug their shoulders....That's not answering prayer. That's you just taking charge of changes in your life.
Maybe...Or maybe, just maybe, because of my praying over the years, God worked on me. If I would have 'stopped' social media 4 years ago, would I have ben able to keep focus on my walk with Christ? Or how about the job? Amazing that it happened at exactly the time it did and not 7 years earlier? The struggle and pitfalls helped strengthen my faith.
You see, we can chalk it up as luck. Or say it's coincidence.
But that's now what registers with me....No, for me, this was staying faithful, staying in prayer and letting God's timing run my life.