Praying for Answers

An important lesson I have been learning...

God does not solely demonstrate his love to us by only answering our prayers with a "Yes."

But rather, His love is much more confirmed to us as He SUSTAINS us through the process.

In my one of my earlier posts, I mentioned I have a lot of family and friends waiting on some answers to prayers. It hasn't made me doubt God, but it has made me question why He seems to answer the prayers of some believers over others.

I'm reading this great book entitled, "Get Off Your Knees and Pray" by Sheila Walsh and studying Ephesians in my quiet time.

I realize that God's ways are higher than our own and that God CANNOT act outside of love because He IS love. I know this but sometimes I just need that reminder from the Word. Times can be confusing and our perspective can be skewed in our pain and doubt.

I love how Sheila Walsh puts it:

"If the whole point of our lives is to become more like Christ and be a conduit for the love of God, then we will be given different paths to take-which may or may not correlate to our prayers. Some paths seem more attractive than others, but no one really knows the burden another carries. What I am convinced of is that God loves his children. I don't know why he answers one woman's prayers one way and another woman's prayers differently, only that he has a reason for it.

A quote from Gore Vidal: "Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies."

One of the ways we can measure whether we are at peace in the love of God is by asking ourselves whether we fall into Gore Vidal's camp (unable to celebrate Christ shining through another's life) or whether we are able to recognize God's wisdom as he lovingly hand-packs each [jar of clay] himself. Because only when we can do that...when we can accept his hand working differently in your life as opposed to mine, answering each prayer in his own time and understanding...can we truly be at peace with God."

Wow. This really humbled me. So many times I get caught in thinking it is all about me or you. "Why don't you heal her God? Why don't you give her a baby?" I mean I am not asking for things that are selfish (babies & healing are all good things) but then I realize it is my PERSPECTIVE that is selfish. I am here for God's purpose and whatever path he has me on is for his glory. Do I always understand that? No.

But that is where God comes in as my sustainer. He is far more interested in showing us his love by being WITH us. I find great hope in that and suddenly the big open ended questions of "Why God?" suddenly don't seem as important. It's not easy and I'm not one to shy away from things when they don't make sense but I have to trust in who God says He is. That has to be enough.

And I'm realizing it is.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.." Ephesians 1:18-19