Giving the Glory for Answered Prayers

Answered prayers very rarely come in the shape and form I expect them to be. Sometime I wonder if they ever turn out as I think they will. There are times when the answered prayer is greater than I could have imagined, other times I find myself thinking, "God, couldn't you have found a better way to make it happen?"

But the important thing is that God does answer our prayers. One of my favorite verses speaks of this: "I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." Psalms 116:1-2 When God answers my prayers it makes me want to pray even more! It makes me want to give God the glory He deserves, which reminds me of a verse I was reading the other day which said, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the havens: let they glory be above all the earth." Psalms 57:11 That is a lot of glory! If I were to give Him all the glory due to him I wouldn't have time to speak of anything else. "Let thy glory be above all the earth."

Over the past several months I have seen many of my prayers answered. Some were desires that I didn't have the faith to pray for, others were specific request that I asked God to meet. Both were amazing.

A little over a year ago I stated e-mailing a girl named Katie who lives in Pennsylvania. Through the 100+ e-mails we have been encouraged through each others battles and victories and have been able to see each other grow in the Lord as we grew closer together. Ever since last October I have been planning on going to meet her and her family for the first time while they were in North Carolina on vacation. At first I was really excited, but as the time got closer I began to get nervous about driving so far with only my little sister in the car to "protect" me should disaster come. I told Katie about this and she assured me it would be okay if I didn't come, but I really wanted to meet her. I was torn between two decisions.

So I did what I've been taught to do all my life but seldom put to practice. I put it in God's hands. I believe that is the key to prayer: telling God what I need and trusting Him to supply it as He sees fit. If I were to continue to search for an answer myself or try to fix a problem on my own after I have prayed about it, I haven't really given God the chance to answer my prayer. So I didn't do that this time. I left everything up to God.

A few weeks later I heard that our church was going to Bible camp in Pennsylvania. Now honestly, my first thought wasn't "Oh, I can meet Katie while I'm there!" No, I thought the same thing that most girls of my status would. "Hmm, maybe I'll meet a nice young man up there!" Followed by, "Lord please forgive me for my vain thoughts, I know you'll send me a man right when I'm not expecting it." ☺I didn't say that I trust God all the time, now did I?

I felt God impressing on my heart to go to this camp. Without God's "nudging" I probably wouldn't have left my job for a whole week based on my own wants especially when I didn't even know if my younger sibling were going. But since I felt Got telling me it was okay to go, I signed up right away. It wasn't until the next day that I realized Katie and I might be able to meet. In a few short days we had the place and time picked and we were counting down the days!

Here's the great part: Not only did I get to spend 2 wonderful hours with Katie in Pennsylvania, but I also got to go to the most amazing Bible camp with my siblings and church family and experience God's presence in a whole new way and watch Him move in so many people's lives. I prayed for a way to meet Katie without having to travel by myself and I ended up spending a whole week going to church twice a day and falling even deeper in love with my Savior right there with my brothers and sisters who were doing the same thing!Later I found out that Katie and her family are no longer going to take vacation in North Carolina, so if God hadn't worked it out for me to go to camp I might not have met her at all this year. I expected God to give me only what I had prayed for and he more than tripled the blessing! My expectation was so low, yet he proved to me that He does answer my prayers and in a way that I could never have planned myself.

So now we're home from camp and energized more than ever! All the youth in our church are eager to see God move and God is doing just that. So Bethany and I decided to start having a Bible study once a week at home. But even in the midst of all the excitement, having that study time doesn't always look easy. We've had a three day revival last week, my room is in serious need of dusting, we were invited to a game night at a friends house, and I still haven't written in my journal about the week of camp. So this morning as I walked out the door on the way to work I whispered, "LORD, please help me find time to prepare for Bible study." Once I was at my desk answering phones, typing as fast as I could, and helping my co-workers find emergency room charts, I didn't give my hurried prayer any thought. Then mama called. None of my brothers and sisters wanted to go to our friends house for game night so mama and daddy were the only ones going and since the game we all love to play requires an even number of people, I wouldn't be able to join the fun. I was disheartened. I wanted to go, but under the circumstances the only thing I would be able to do is sit there and watch. So I said I would stay home with my brothers and sisters and let the adults have a fun night.

Then God so gently reminded me of my prayer for time. What better time to study than when mama and daddy are away and my brothers and sisters are watching a moving with brownies and ice-cream? Yes, I wanted to play games with our friends but obviously God thought I needed to stay home and study. After all, I did pray for it.

Even though that is not the way I wanted God to give me more time He should still receive the glory for answering another one of my prayers. And if he chooses to answer another (like I know He will) I will give him the glory for that one too no matter what the outcome is. For if He is to be glorified above all the earth I still have a lot of  praising to do, but plenty to praise Him for!

Desires Fulfilled

This week I've learned the difference between having my desires fulfilled and having my prayers answered. God gave me something I really wanted, (concerning work and education) but I never thought it was within my reach, so I didn't expect it. I didn't pray for it, but God knew I wanted it and he, in His infinite power, made a way. He gave me something very special to me even though I didn't ask for it.

Then God made a perfect situation seem even more wonderful. His blessings kept coming until I knew beyond a shadow of a dout that this is from God. Everything is too amazing to be coincidence. God has opened this door for me and all I have to do is walk through it. I feel loved!

"Delight thyself also in the LORD and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy ways unto the LORD; trust in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalms 37:4-5

"The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips." Psalms 21: 1-2

Most Worthy

Over the past week God has been showing me area's in my life that need to change. When God does this he usually shows me several times through many different sources. (I must be hard headed!)

Sunday night my pastor preached on giving God praise. The theme scripture was from Psalms 119: 64, "Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments." The sermon was good . . . but I didn't realize it was for me. I am not unthankful . . . I praise Him. Oh how wrong my attitude was!

Later in the week, the daily devotion I receive in my mail was on thankfulness. Part of it read: "God doesn’t owe us anything and He doesn’t have to bless us. But He has! For the gift of salvation alone we should praise God each day. But He has given us so much more."

Then I read an article at Young Ladies Christian Fellowship. And yes, it was on being thankful even when things aren't going your way. It finally sunk in. I have been so unthankful! We can never thank and praise him enough. He is always worthy of continual praise from every living creature. Not even seven times a day will do Him justice! How ashamed I am for not praising Him as much as I should have! God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for my sins and make a way for me to go to heaven, He traded my insecurities for His peace, my brokenness for his fulfilment, my sorrow with His joy, my filthiness for His righteousness, and my troubles for his light burden. God has given me the most wonderful family, friends, and church. I have a home, a car, a job. . . that's a lot more than most people! I have every reason to praise him seven times a day and more! What a shame it is that I haven't.

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Psalms 28:7

God's Will is Perfect

From the time I was entering the teenage years I began to find an interest in Christian magazines such as Hope Chest and Stepping in the Light. The articles in these magazines were written to help young girls before marriage. Over and over I read about girls who saw that even though they were certain that they knew what they were going to do, God had other plans. They finally came to realize that only God knows what the future holds.

Reading this for years made me think that I wouldn't make the same mistake because I knew better. Now as I sit here at my desk thinking about the past two years, I see that I was so wrong. Even though I didn't realize it at the time, I was just like the other girls. I suppose we all have to experiance it for ourself to really understand what it is to trust God.

I just knew that God was going to let things work out the way I thought they would. Everything seemed to be going so well, it seemed that God was answering my prayers, and all the puzzle pieces were coming together. Everything seemed perfect in my eyes and I gave God the glory for it.

Over the past month I have seen all my dreams vanish. All of a sudden everything changed and my dreaming came to a halt. Out of all the ways my story could have went, this was not how I ever expected it to go. I was left confused, afraid to dream. I didn't plan this.

Now I see that this is all part of God's plan for my life. If things had went as I wanted them too I would have been in a mess. My Lord knew that my plan was not the best for me so He graciousely and lovingly took my dreams away. Now am trying to live day by day, asking God what He wants me to do. Which reminds me that as Paul said in Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Perhaps the wisest prayer we could ever pray is "Nevertheless not my will, oh Lord, but thine be done."

Even though this is not how I was hoping things would turn out, I can clearly see that this is God's will and truly His will is good, perfect, and acceptable.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2

A Great Day at Work

Isn't it so funny how we can forget such simple things that make life easier? I use to pray every morning on the way to work that I would have a good day and that all would go as smooth as possible. Every day didn't go as well as I wanted it to, but the majority of my time was great. Lately I have forgotten to pray over my day. This morning however, when I remembered to ask God for His help I had a surprisingly good day. I was able to focus (something I'm sure the manager was happy about!), stay busy, my mouth actually said the words correctly instead of getting tongue tied, I got along with people I usually don't and the day flew by! That just shows that God want to be a part of every area of our lives and He will bless us when we go to Him for help.

If you're having trouble at work, in school, or any other area, maybe you simply need to pray or about it. Pray can do great things!