Don't Walk Away From An Answered Prayer

I want to share with you an insight that the LORD impressed upon me pertaining to prayer and how the LORD graciously answers our petitions and requests presented before Him. You are probably familiar with the saying that He answers our prayers three ways: Either "Yes", "No", or the one that rubs us the wrong way because we live in an age of instant gratification, and that is the answer "Wait". I would like to add a fourth category of answer to prayer. He will give you the impression that the answer is, "Yes, but not in the way you expect." I want to address this category for the fact that when He does answer it (1 Corinthians 14:20; Ephesians 4:14; Hebrews 5:12), we often tend to get bent out of spiritual shape because it was not answered in the way that we expected, and I dare say, demanded. I want to present the conditions of successful prayer according to God's Word, so pay attention. We should have an attitude before the Sovereign of the Universe of contrition, or humbleness. We are to come before the presence of God with reverence, humility, and that we are approaching the Holy One who has made both nations and prophets throughout history aware of their sins and the need for redemption (Exodus 20:18-21; Isaiah 6:1-8; 2 Chronicles 7:14). We are to approach our God and Father with whole-heartedness, or the faith that what we petition before Him will be answered according to HIS Sovereign will (Jeremiah 29:13; Mark 11:24). We are to have the attitude of submission to His direction and that He is in charge of how everything will turn out in the end (Matthew 6:10; Romans 6:13; James 4:7).

When it comes to whether your prayers will be answered, ask yourself these questions: Are you at peace with your Christian brethren? Do you hold anything against your pastor or elders that is nothing more than pettiness on your part? Are you upset at your spouse or children over something that in the end is, to quote the title of a play by Shakespeare, "much ado about nothing"? Are you right now harboring any "secret sins" you hope to be overlooked or forgotten? If you had to answer "yes" to any of these questions, then go no further. Stop right here and confess those sins before God, all of them (Numbers 32:23; Psalm 51:1-12; Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4, 17:4; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13). Repent without hesitation and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you here and now. Return to Him with your whole heart, make amends, settle debts, ask your family and friends to forgive you of your attitude, actions, and words that compromised the walk with Christ you claim to possess (1 John 3:22, 5:14). Only then will He hear you and not before.

Now, I want to look at some examples where you might have earnestly prayed for, say, a job, a noble and selfless request. You want to provide for your family or yourself and earn your keep (Ecclesiastes 9:10; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:12). You want to be a good role model to potential co-workers and be someone who reflects an authentic faith that people would be drawn to and ask about the LORD. Well, He can answer your prayer and it will more often than not be a far cry from the ideal or dream job that you might have envisioned. For instance, if you're a teacher, that prayer of being in a Christian school has turned into being hired to teach in the worst school in the district with a classful of delinquents in training. You can do one of two things; either grumble and quit or obtain some spiritual maturity and see your situation as a mission field where those kids have for the first time in their lives, a solid and admirable role model. Your Christian witness might be that voice of reason to one student ready to either quit or try to end their lives because they see no way out of their situation. That kid who is hell on wheels with other teachers begins to pay attention because you show genuine care for his life and well-being. He ends up being an honor student because you did not give up and look for an ideal situation that might have fit your way of thinking, but not God's direction for your life.

How about when you found yourself sweating in a factory, putting together items on an assembly line for 8-12 hours per day instead of being in that office job you wanted or that position that looked like the dream career that would be all you needed for what you thought was "success"? How did God answer that prayer for a job? Well, it could have been that you needed to "grow up" emotionally and gain some experience not in your "ideal situation", but in the harshness of the "real world" with its problems and difficulties that may have never affected you until now. God's greatest servants at one time or another had to be "toughened up" by long sojourns in the desert, or see that the messages He told them to give to the people ended up ignored and hated, or that they were in literal peril for their lives, and even now undergo persecutions for Christ that might not end until He returns or death takes them (2 Corinthians 11:24-33; Hebrews 11:32-40). Here is something to consider as you work and wonder how God can possibly put you in that hot, dirty factory, or by mopping floors in a local store, or cleaning up an old man who has defecated on himself in that nursing home you're working at until "something better comes along".