Answers to Prayer

Have you ever voiced frustration at not having your prayer answered only to have someone chime in, "God answers all prayers: yes, no or wait." It may be true, but personally, I don't find it very helpful or comforting.

What has often seemed to be the case in my life is not a yes, no or wait...but a deafening silence. And that feels even harder than just getting a no.

Another thing I've noticed is how quickly people want to put a box around things Jesus said about prayer. For example, in the gospel of John (chapters 14-16), four times in three chapters, Jesus makes some very bold statements related to answers to prayer. Here's one of those four times:

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." (John 15:7-8)

Whenever I bring up a passage like that, inevitably, someone will bring up the limitations around this promise, not the possibilities. They'll say something like: you can't pray selfish prayers or ask for a million dollars.

Rather than quickly pointing out what Jesus isn't saying, why aren't we getting excited about what He is saying?

I'll confess, I've struggled with what Jesus says about prayer in these two verses. There have been many times where, as best I know my own heart, I have been remaining in Him and His words have been remaining in me...and I have asked...and nothing happened.

And so over time, our tendency is to downplay what Jesus is saying. And we settle for not seeing answers and for not bearing much fruit. Why? So that we can insulate ourselves from disappointment. We do that by lowering our expectations of God.

Insulating ourselves from disappointment by lowering our expectations is not the answer. In fact, I believe it's an offense to God to do that. So what are we to do?

Let's start with the fact that it's bearing fruit that glorifies the Father. And in the context of these two verses, bearing fruit is the result of answered prayer. In a very real sense, I have no right to lower my expectations and ask for little. I have a responsibility to continue seeking Him to discover how all this is supposed to work.

We have to start with a new premise. One that believes the Lord wants to answer our prayers, but may want to do it in a way we didn't expect.

I do believe there are times He wants to come through for us in miraculous ways. Those answers may come quickly and/or in ways that leave no doubt that it was God who did it. Our part was to simply stand by and watch. I love those times, but I don't think they're very common.

I believe that most often, He chooses to work through natural processes that He created.

This spring, I had some bear spots in my front lawn. So I went to the store, bought grass seed and spread it around the yard.

If I had gone out the next morning and looked for grass, I would have been very disappointed. If I looked a few days after that, I would still have been disappointed and maybe a little disillusioned.

I think prayer is like that. If I want a nice, full green lawn, then I must understand the process. Lawns come from seeds. Seeds take time to grow. It doesn't just happen overnight.

Could it be that when we pray the wisest thing we can do next is to start looking for seeds?

Let's say you're facing a problem of some kind at work or with a child. And so you ask God to fix it. A day goes by, but it's not any better. A week goes by, again, nothing has changed. After a month, you're tempted to conclude God hasn't heard you or even worse, He doesn't care about your problem.

But what if the morning after you prayed, He sent you an idea while you were in the shower? What if a friend texts you with a book recommendation? What if a song on the radio encourages you to keep trusting? What if your spouse suggests a different course of action?

Could those all be seeds the Lord is giving you to faithfully plant, water and fertilize, so that they'll grow into the answer you desire? In other words, act on the idea, read the book, thank Him for the song and take your spouse's advice to heart.

I've come to believe He doesn't want to do everything for us. Instead, He wants to do things with us. Why? He's Someone who likes to partner. That's why I believe He's not interested in hearing us pray things like, "Lord, just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

That's what a servant says to a master. Are we servants? Of course, but just a little later in John 15, Jesus says in verse 15, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

What if the Lord is actually interested in answering many more prayers than we realized, but He's wanting to answer them with us and through us in the context of a friendship, rather than just doing it all for us?

What do you think?