What Does God Do With Our Prayers?

(beginning originally written August 17, 2012)

I've been saved since 1982.

I have been praying daily since then.

I have experienced miracle after miracle,

I have felt His presence in such a way that I have no doubt

He is the LORD.

 

But, I am weak.

I am frail.

I am human.

 

This past year has been one of the hardest of my life.

It's made cancer look like a picnic.

At times I have surpassed my threshold of tolerance,

grace, and the ability to walk in firm faith.

 

When I cannot see results, my heart begins to wonder

if the Lord is answering my prayers.

I know academically the answer.

When I think of an Innocent Man possibly spending the rest of his life

 in jail for a crime he did not commit, my heart is so weak.

I had to renew my heart and mind in Christ Jesus,

and read HIS words to comfort my heart.

I had to walk in faith again,

or I cannot walk the rest of this journey giving Him glory.

So what does God do with our prayers?

 

Jeremiah 33:3

‘Call to Me,

and I will

answer."

He answers them.

******************

Now, 6 months later,

grappling with a guilty verdict,

I still know

God

answers

prayer.

We know,

we don't always believe.

Even worse,

we stop praying.

The Lord sets the standard pretty high

when He encourages us to

pray without ceasing in I Thessalonians 5:17.

When we look at this as an obligation,

it becomes a burden.

We drudge through our prayer lists

like we were punching in a timeclock.

There.

Done.

Ya' happy, Lord?

He's not happy ifwe look at this verse as a demand on our time,

instead of what it truly is,

a welcome into the presence of the Lord.

We can boldly approach the Lord

without ritual or ceremony

if we've trusted Christ.

The Cross bridged that gap

between sinful man

and a Holy God.

God isn't demanding a standard we can never attain.

He's telling us

He is willing to listen,

He is available,

He wants to hear about everything,

and

He

will

answer.

So, He encourages us to pray without ceasing,

because He never ceases to answer our prayers.

If your answers aren't what you expected from the Lord,

don't give up.

Don't quit praying.

Don't lose heart.

He says YES.

He says NO.

He says WAIT.

He says I HAVE SOMETHING BETTER.

Because that's what God does with our prayers.

He

answers

them.

My Heavy Heart

The past few weeks I had a heavy heart.

So many trials have compounded
I actually cried out to the Lord,

 "Please let something good happen to me.

I just need joy!"

I was that low.

 I know my joy is supposed to be in the character of Christ

 and not in my circumstances.

I know true joy doesn't come just when things are going my way.

I know, but I wasn't walking in that knowledge.

However, Lord looks down with love on His children
who are stooped down in sorrow and trials.

Even when they

push away His touch,

 doubt His Word,

 and don't agree with His plan,

He keeps reaching, speaking, wooing.

Proverbs 12:25

Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop:

but a good word makes it glad.

What makes our heart heavy?

From carrying burdens we shouldn't be carrying.

We're supposed to fling them onto the back of Christ,

the same back that was marred by stripes and bore the cross for us.

Surely, whatever burdens our hearts

 can be added to that pile on His holy back.

Stoop actually means to depress;

 our physical body can betray the condition of our heart.

What's the "good word?"

Anything the Lord says in the Bible.

It's all good.

But, sometimes we just need someone to listen,

someone to throw their arms around us and promise us

everything is going to work out for good.
The Lord promises to provide that for us.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father,

who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,

comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

And just when I've needed it,
 Christians have provided that good word.

The Lord allowed two divine encounters with sisters
that have been seriously praying for the Innocent Man.
(A Christian man falsely accused of a crime, punishable up to 60 years in jail.)
They both reminded me they're praying.

Many people have dropped emails or messages on Facebook,
just when I need them.
Some of you have silently supported us with prayer,
and we feel the presence of your faith.

The Innocent Man has also been upheld by the Lord's people.

As I cried out to the Lord,
I felt Him lightening the load.
Every prayer on our behalf,
every word of encouragement,
every reminder of the Lord's faithfulness,
has helped lift that burden.

Thank you for being used of the Lord in our lives.
None of us could have walked this path alone.


We've lived through this nightmare on earth for eight months.
We've felt the Lord's presence,
we've seen answer to prayer,
the Gospel has gone forth,
the saints have been encouraged.


The trial is
Tuesday, October 11th,
and they think it will last three days.

Please pray.

Will you also please leave a word of encouragement for
the Innocent Man in my comments?
He's in the Garden of Gethsemene,
he knows what's ahead.

Thank you for helping carry the cross,
it relieves the burden.

Thank you for praying.

DAY 17 and Counting

I've counted it over and over. It has been 17 days since my doctor visit. That makes three business weeks. It seems like years. I have checked the answering machine a few times, to make sure I didn't miss a message. I have checked the history of the phone calls, I have asked the kids every time I leave the house if the doctor has called.

I have called his office twice, so now am at the risk of annoying him and fear I will lessen my chance of a happy patient/doctor relationship. I am also trying not to be annoyed with him because I am finding his working definition of SOON doesn't match up with dictionary.com's definition.

-within a short period after this or that time, event, etc.
-before long; in the near future; at an early date
-promptly or quickly:

My life feels as if it is on hold. The decisions he makes could affect my entire next year in a vast way; but I am just another patient, another life, another phone call to make.

In the continued wait, I decided to pray more fervently for his decisions. Dr. E. does have four years of charts to weed through, equal years of labwork to peruse and, although I wish I were, I am NOT his only patient. I remind myself that all his other patients could have serious issues, too.

I am asking the Lord that He will give Dr. E. wisdom and understanding and I ask you to join me in praying for him.

As I was thinking about prayer this morning, the first verse that came to mind was in I Thessalonians 5:
16 ¶ Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I am wondering to myself if this wait is more important than the answer, the Lord is giving me a chance to truly learn verse 16, to pray without ceasing. And, notice the two admonitions that it is neatly sandwiched between, to "rejoice evermore" and to "give thanks."

And, as I reread this blog, I am guilty of what my husband has preached about "Vitamin I Disease." Too much "I", not enough Him. If I thought only about my situation, I would be depressed, as we all would be with whatever the Lord is allowing in our lives.

If we think about Him, His righteous and loving character and His Holy Word and allow Him to answer our furtive prayers, in HIS time and in HIS way, our hearts truly can
-rejoice
-pray
-be thankful

May we all be praying without ceasing for whatever is troubling our hearts and minds today and praise Him for answering!


Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.