Lord, I need you to answer my prayers now!
I like to take walks in the morning when it’s quiet and there are very few people out and about. I often use this time to enjoy the quietness and to pray. On this particular day, however, my heart was heavily laden with the many things going on in and around me, and I was finding it hard to focus on God. I would start to pray, get distracted, start worrying and playing out possible scenarios in my head, and then start all over again, having forgotten what I was praying about in the first place! As I walked, I passed a house where a little boy was screaming because he didn’t want to go to school. It was his first or second day at school, and you know how it goes – many little kids want to stay at home and do what they are used to doing all day. He was screaming and kicking, and despite the best efforts of his nanny and the bus driver, he would not settle down.
I prayed for him.
“Lord, let this little boy love going to school.”
The next day, as I passed by the little boy’s house, there were no screams. He got into the van and even waved goodbye to his nanny!
God answered that simple prayer I made. Awesome!
But hold on – what about all the other prayers I made the same day? Why didn’t God answer those as fast as this one?
I’m sure you have asked yourself that question many times. Prayer requests that are urgent and important to you don’t seem to be as important to God. It’s almost like He doesn’t care.
But He does care. He does. Just like He cared about that little boy I prayed for.
Maybe the little boy’s mom was distressed at the thought that her boy was never going to settle into school. Maybe she had locked herself in her room, crying out to the Lord. Maybe the Lord wanted me to make that prayer just at that moment.
I prayed, and He answered.
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry. “ Psalm 34:15 (NIV)
The fact that God answered this prayer doesn’t mean that He ignores my other prayers. It’s all about timing. His will. His plan for my life. In other words, it’s all about God and what He wants to accomplish in me.
On the day I prayed for this little boy, there was something that was really disturbing me and no matter how hard or long I prayed about it, I did not have peace. I was not settled. I could not see how this matter would be resolved without the Lord’s intervention, yet He was taking His time!
A few weeks later, God answered that prayer. He answered it in His own way and on His own terms.
The answer left me wondering why I was stressing in the first place. Yet I know why I was stressed – I was not ready to let God take the lead in what I was praying for. I wanted control. I wanted to dictate how He would answer the prayer.
Even after all these years of walking with the Lord, I still struggle with trusting Him completely. I am human. I want things to go my way. That’s why it’s distressing when God seems to take forever to answer my prayers.
The solution? Trusting in Him. Leaving everything at His feet. Surrendering to His will. Letting Him take control.
I’m still working on this.
Lord, You know my heart better than I do. You know my deepest desires and the things I long to see You do in and around me. You know my needs. Today, Lord, I surrender them all to You, knowing that Your love for me is greater than I can imagine. Amen.
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him.” Romans 15:13a NLT