If you’re reading this, then you might have some questions or challenges about some prayers you’ve made that are unanswered or unresolved – so we’re in this together
To this end, I was recently asking God to change someone & make them more flexible. This could translate to mean that I want that person to be more compliant to my preferences and it could mean that God might want to work on some control issues in my heart, which is certainly food for thought
As we think about the prayers we make to God, it’s interesting to think about how God answers prayers. I say this because of recently reading two exchanges between David and God in 2Samuel 5, when David asks God about attacking the Philistines. In the first exchange, God tells David to attack in response to his first enquiry. David obeys God’s direction and successfully defeats the Philistines.
On the heels of being defeated, the Philistines attack a second time. And David asks God again about confronting the Philistines. In response to David’s second enquiry, God tells David to circle behind the Philistines, wait for the sound of marching in the tree tops and then attack. David obeys God’s instructions and defeats the Philistines the second time. From my point of view, these are very explicit instruction & a stark contrast from the first battle.
So here are some ingredients for the recipe to Answered Prayer:
- AFDI: Ask For Divine Input rather than depending on your own brilliance or willpower
- Unlimited obedience, served up with daily consistency
- Trusting God more than a method: yeast goes with flour like trust goes with God; God seems to work uniquely in each situation, so trusting in a method isn’t as helpful as trusting in God
- DBS: Don’t Be Surprised when you have to repeat something, but with a different method
In addition to these ingredients, it’s also important to consider how these ingredients go together, some possible marinading time and what happens when heat is applied over a length of time. To this end, when I asked God about changing someone and making them more flexible, like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I received an interesting reply.
I felt God say to me, “Sarah, maybe the answer to your prayer is a combination of that person becoming more flexible and you being less controlling.”
I had to sit with that feedback and let that marinade for a little while. And truth be told, I’m still ruminating on what God said to me. Maybe I’m a little similar to meat marinating in a sauce. Maybe it takes God a little time to break down the fibers of my resistance and self-deception so that God’s truth and loving flavor can influence my thoughts, attitudes, words, decisions and action. Ultimately, this is what I want. This is the ultimate answer to my prayers, even in the heat and fire of daily living.
In our quest to get our prayers answered, let’s be committed to allowing God to change us and help us grow. Maybe the tasty outcome of God’s culinary efforts in our lives is the expression of genuine love, as we are wholly dependent on God’s presence yeasting into our core identity.
Selah.
