When Prayers are Answered

When Prayers are Answered
by Jeflivs Livara

Once upon a time there was a couple who prayed for their finances to improve. Everyday and every night they pray that God will help them from their finances. The man working in the fields spent most of his time tilting the land. The woman earns her living by selling fruits and vegetables picked from their small plantation. One day a rich old man came and asked them to sell his inherited land. Three mountains and a river flowing in between makes this land costs millions and of course with a commission enough to buy them a new house and sustain them for the next 25 years.

The couple did not know what to do and disregarded the offer of the old man. The man continued to work in the fields and the woman continued to work selling fruits and vegetable. At the end of the day, the couple prayed again for God to help them with their finances everyday and every night. End of the Story.

I believe that when we pray for something God answers us in three ways: Yes, No or Wait. What if our prayers are already answered but sometimes we fail to notice the answer. In the story, the poor couple prayed for their finances to improve and after praying religiously an old man came offering them commission to sell his property. An opportunity which could have answered their prayers but the problem was, the couple did not know what they were ask for or did not appreciate the way their prayers were answered. Then, they let go of the opportunity.

Isn't it intriguing that such can, may or has happened to us. The reasons why we fail to discover God's answers because we are simply not paying attention. We let go of the moment. We let go of the chance and pray for another chance. It seems, we only know God when we ask for something like the genie in a bottle or we only acknowledge God when good things happen in the way we want it to be.What if God answers in the way God likes it to be? Are we ready to accept and embrace the answer? I hope you do! Many of us think that God does not answer our prayers (but in fact He did) because

1. We want the answers the way we like it to happen.It is not how we want it to be answered but it is how God wants it to be. He is God. He knows what is best for us. Many times we kept praying but the things we are praying for have long been answered. We cannot just accept it because it does not conform what we have in mind.

2. We fail to reflect.
The best way to understand your life is to take a moment of silence and reflect from the things that transpired. By doing so, we can point out what areas in our lives we fall short. We can pinpoint areas in our attitude where we went wrong. Reflection is a form of evaluating ourselves... evaluating our life. It improves the way we think. It improves the way we see life and enables us to be ready for the future. If you try to reflect in  life,  you would agree that God gives us hundreds of chances... hundreds of opportunities... and hundreds of understanding. Reflect on a verse in the bible and discover how God works in your life.

3. We become insensitive to the things around us.We sometimes fail to see answered prayers because we are focused on other things. We become insensitive to the world around us. We become insensitive to the inner voice speaking to us. We become insensitive to our own selves. In this world of technological advancement, we should still learn to become attentive to God and things happening around us. They might not be exact answers but may lead us to answered prayers. Pride can cloud our heart. It can leave us callous of other's feelings.

4. We look for worldly reasons. We fail to accept answered prayers because we sometimes give explanations to things which are given from God. We do not acknowledge God anymore. We let science give and find the answers. We become too much dependent on  Human Philosophies and Scientific Reasoning we get to explain why things happen. We become so much dependent in our own might that we fail to acknowledge graces from God.

5. We are not ready to accept the answered prayer.We ask many things but when answered we do not know how to react. We do not know how to accept the answer God has provided us. This makes us ignorant to our own prayers and longings. God loves us. Sometimes I get a feeling we are already "spoiled". Didn't you know that God loved us more than his son? Read John 3:16 and tell me.

We have a good God. The God you believe is a reflection of who you are. The prayers you ask is the reflection of your spiritual needs.

When prayers are answered, are you ready to respond and acknowledge God who gave you all these?We have a God who fulfills His promises.

Reflection:
1 John 5:14-15
"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."