Answered Prayers

Recently I was going about some various mundane tasks at home on a Sunday afternoon when I started to once again think about a situation in my life that had been on my mind a lot. And then it hit me...God had answered a major prayer I'd had about that situation. The same situation that I'd been moaning to Him about all week. The same situation that I felt like there was zero chance of seeing any resolution to within the near future. Just that morning things had changed, and at the time it hadn't even clicked in my head. But standing there in my kitchen I realized that God had answered that prayer of mine in a way that I wouldn't have expected, and much more swiftly than I had ever dared to hope for.

Standing there in the kitchen I started thinking about other things I'd been praying about recently and I realized that He'd also answered another (albeit somewhat trivial) prayer of mine on that exact same day. So I started thinking even further back for things that I'd prayed about that were long term prayers that I may or may not have talked to Him about recently, but that I had given over to Him awhile ago. And then it clicked in my head that earlier that same week He'd answered a major prayer request that I'd been praying on and off about for a good part of 2012.

I realize that everything I've said above has been pretty vague. My goal is not to draw attention to a specific answer to prayer that God has provided, rather my point is that I often fail to stop and notice how incredibly God answers prayer. I always pray with the expectation that God is at work, but I don't always do the best job of stopping to thank Him when He does provide an answer to prayer. And having three very obvious prayers so clearly answered around the same time grabbed my attention on that Sunday afternoon for whatever reason. In fact, my initial reaction after realizing that my prayer had been answered was surprise. Not because I was surprised that God had done something, but because I hadn't noticed it sooner. I've let myself become complacent.

I used to have a prayer journal that I would use to keep track of the main things I was praying for so that I could go back later and mark when God had answered one of them. I found it to be a great reminder of how God always provides, and also how sometimes God's provision is different than what we were initially expecting. I'm not sure why I started slacking on using it, but I couldn't even tell you for certain where that journal is at the moment, it's been that long since I've used it. I've decided to start using my phone to track my prayer requests now, and I'm excited to start doing a better job of taking stock of how God has responded.

To end this blog post I would just say...don't forget to take a step back and notice what He's doing in your life, and don't forget to thank Him for those answers to prayers. And most importantly, don't forget to create opportunities for Him to answer your prayers. =)