Have you ever wondered why God sometimes doesn’t seem to answer your prayers?  Maybe you’re the person who prays constantly but just can’t seem to get any good feedback.  Or at least the kind you want.  Maybe you wonder why it takes God so long to answer prayers.  Is He too busy for me?  Doesn’t He love me?  For some, the answer they get seems not clear enough, doesn’t seem to fit or maybe just isn’t what they wanted to hear.  If this is you, you are not alone. These concerns are not at all uncommon and are all too human. 

I’d been struggling for weeks on how to get back into writing a new post for my blog.  Sure, I’d been praying, asking God to give me the right subject matter, the most inspiring words….all good, right?  Yet, I didn’t get any clear response from Him. Didn’t he get my message?  Hey Lord, I need some help here.  But I slowly realized that what I was really listening for was confirmation, not inspiration.  I thought the few ideas I had were really great.  And yet it seemed that God never gave me that little nudge or spoke to me in a resounding voice saying, “Yep, that’s a really great idea. So go for it.”  

Recently, while my wife and I were taking a mini vacation in a wilderness lodge, the answer appeared.   On our second day there a twenty year old restaurant waitress with tattoos served us a scrumptious breakfast of french toast with gobs of melted butter and real maple syrup.  I noticed two unique looking tattoos on her arm.  So I asked her the meaning of them.  She described one as the symbol for sexual assault awareness and the other for suicide prevention awareness. 

We talked to her for a few minutes about what significance those had in her life.  She told us she had been sexually assaulted as a young teen.  And that she had attempted suicide not long after that horrific event.  Her parents had then put her in a mental hospital that essentially did nothing to address the traumas she had endured.  So we shared some of our life stories, many of which paralleled hers.   Her story touched us deeply.  Especially when she shared that no one had ever talked to her about these things before. 

She sat with us for awhile and we talked about how troubling it is that these issues are rarely talked about.  So we mentioned several group and individual resources that might be helpful to her and she seemed genuinely appreciative.  My wife said she would be willing to talk to her anytime she felt the need.  They exchanged phone numbers and we finished our breakfast and left. 

Walking back to our room, we were talking about how sad the girl’s story was and how alone she seemed to be.  On the other hand, we felt blessed to have been part of an encounter we both felt was a God thing. 

Then it hit me.  A God thing.  Sure.  This was how God was answering my prayer.  A blog about this encounter was surely the message He was giving me.  So, as soon as we got to our room, I grabbed my laptop and jaunted back to the main lobby.  I got a cup of coffee and found a comfortable chair by a roaring fireplace.  I felt warm, inside and out.  God had not just nudged me, He had grabbed me firmly and led me to start writing about the event that He had just orchestrated.  Answered prayer?  I think so.  

So what do I make of all this?  I know that letting God take the lead has never been my strong suit.  Nor has patience.  I want my prayers to be heard and answered post-haste.

Certainly in today’s hectic world, there is much to try our patience but God’s word tells us to be more like Jesus who demonstrated patience during his time on the earth. 

Take, for example, Romans 12:11-12,  ^“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

As for following and trusting His lead, Isaiah 30:21 reminds us that, “Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: “This is the right road. Walk down this road.”

With a bit of meditation on these scriptures, I was reminded of the eleventh step prayer from the program of Alcoholics Anonymous: “God, direct my thinking, especially that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest, or self-seeking motives.” 

Thank you Lord for leading me, for directing me and mostly for loving me.  And God, increase my passion for more of.you.

Resources for help

For sexual assault help, go to https://www.rainn.org/ or call 800-656(HOPE)4673 

For suicide prevention/awareness, go to https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or call 800-273-8255