4:130 – God Returns All Messages

#faithbites #faithjourney returns

Setting

Have you ever sent a text message and never gotten a reply? You know the person got it and they may say something about it down the line, but they never replied. How about sending an email with actions for someone and no response? This happens to me all the time and it drives me nuts. I’m a person who will try to always reply even if it’s just a smiley face 🙂 When I don’t get a reply, it’s hard to know if they got it and just aren’t saying something or if they didn’t get it. Very hard to plan and respond.

I’ve heard people, myself included, say that God doesn’t return your messages, prayers. Some thing their prayers aren’t worthy of His attention or they aren’t worthy. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. God indeed returns and answers all prayers. The problem is sometimes we aren’t expecting or ready for the way he answers them.

Today’s Questions: When you pray, how do you know God answers your prayers? In which ways has God answered your prayers in a way that was different than you expected?

Scripture

• 1 John 5:14-15 – And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
• John 15:7 – If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
• John 16:23 – In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.
• James 4:3 – You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
• Jeremiah 29:12 – Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you
• Proverbs 16:9 – We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.

Reflection

As we can see by these six verses, God promised to answer our prayers. If this is the case, then why do people think he is slow to respond or never returns our prayers. There are two answers to this.

The first answer comes in James 4:3. God tells us that while he will answer our prayers he won’t do it if we ask wrongly. He’s not saying how we pray but why we pray. For instance, he isn’t saying we have to use the Lord’s prayer or a specific way to pray. He is saying that when we ask for things that are harmful to us or others, he won’t answer. Now, it’s not like he doesn’t respond at all. You might be surprised at how he “messes” with you to get you on the right track.

The second answer comes in Proverbs 16:9. We may pray for a specific thing but God answers in a different way. For instance, maybe you pray for a better job. Instead of getting a new job, God may make your current work environment better. Maybe you are praying for more money. Instead of giving you a bucket of money from the sky, perhaps one of your bills for the month is much lower than expected. One more example. You pray for you an improvement in your relationship and then it ends. But down the road, you enter a much better relationship. These are all ways in which God works. Our God is awesome in power. He will answer every prayer, we just have to listen for how he answers.

Sometimes it feels like we need a decoder ring to figure out what a meme, gif, or emoji means when someone returns our messages. God can be like that. We just need to pray with open hearts and listen with open minds and ears to how God answers our call.

As we close, remember, you are not alone. Your prayers are not going unanswered. He loves you, cares for you, and will answer them.

Prayer

Heavenly Lord, we love you and thank you for everything you give us. We pray that you help us to be able to see how you are working in our lives. We know you work in mysterious ways and sometimes we think you aren’t answers our calls. Let us be patient and observant. Let us thank you and pray continuously. We may get it wrong sometimes but know you never you. We pray for your guidance and understanding in your name, Amen.