Answer to Prayer

There once was a man who had gotten stuck in a storm. As the flood waters rose, he had to climb onto his roof for safety. He began to pray that God would save him. A while later a man in a small boat came up and offered him help. “No,” the man shook his head, “I’m waiting for God to save me.” The storm went on, and the water rose. A helicopter appeared, and a man was lowered down to the roof.

“We are here to help you. Take my hand. I will take you to safety.”

Again, the man shook his head. “I’m waiting for God to save me.” A short time later the water rose, and the man drown. As he entered heaven and stood before God, he was a little confused.

“What’s wrong?” God asked.

“I trusted you to save me, but I died.” The man answered.

“I sent you help in the form of a boat and a helicopter, but you didn’t accept it.”

So often we pray and try to have faith that things will be answered, but then when it doesn’t work the way we thought we can miss our answer altogether. Often we are looking for the answer that looks like the dividing of the seas, but it looks more like God swimming alongside us until get to the other side. We pray for provision expecting the oil to never run dry, but instead the bank account hits zero and then someone provides a meal or a gift.

For a moment consider why he might do things that way. Sure, he could just manifest a cornucopia on your front porch with all kinds of wonderful food for you. But, what a miracle when he prompts a person to provide a meal. Then, you have been blessed, but that person is also blessed because they saw the heart of God and obeyed it’s prompting. This is an amazing method where we get to be a part of the story.

I will share a real life example with you. A short while ago I gave birth to our fourth child. I had been praying for a painless labor and delivery. (Sounds crazy but I had heard of it happening so I was going for it.) After a difficult pregnancy, I was praying and hoping that things would just go smoothly. I wanted a home birth, but I had also felt like this child might end in a C-section and I was just worried all around about how things might turn out. So after what felt like forever I finally went into labor. Things started out okay, not painless though. I labored at home for about twenty eight hours. At last I couldn’t take it anymore. I told my husband I needed to go to the hospital and get something to manage pain. We got there, and I got my first epidural. It helped with the pain and a short while later they said that I could push. Well, something was wrong. She wasn’t coming out and my body was done. After thirty six hours and three hours of pushing there was concern for the baby as she was becoming distressed with each contractions. Finally, the doctor came to me and expressed that we should consider a C-section. With tears in my eyes, I agreed. After that everything happened so fast. They prepped me and my husband for surgery. The room was a buzz with people preparing to take me to the surgical room. My mom and my midwife were with me. The doctor said she would check on last time to see if we were clear to give it one last try. With wide eyes she looked at the nurse and said we were good to push. I wasn’t sure I had anything left but five minutes later my daughter was laid on my chest.

So were my prayers answered, not in the way I had hoped. I did experience part of a home birth, I also got some pain free labor. God saved me from having to do a C-section and my baby was safe, despite coming out upside down and wrapped in her cord. Perhaps what God wanted to do was show that in a matter of a few short minutes he could take a problem and dissolve it. Before doctors and nurses, he removed what had prevented me from being able to give birth and also gave me the strength to finish a very long journey.

God answers prayer. He always answers, and if we watch we can catch where he answers things according to his will far beyond what we could have imagined. He is always with us. He is always good. And he always knows what he is doing.