Did God already answer?
The other day I walked into the elevator at work and pushed the button for Floor 3. The doors began to close, but then immediately opened back up. So I pushed the Floor 3 button again. And again the doors immediately opened back up. I walked out of the elevator and back in. That’s when I realized something. I was already on Floor 3! I had been thinking deeply about a database script I needed to write and was distracted.
After having a good laugh, I thought: Isn’t this how we sometimes react to God’s answers to prayer? We pray and pray for something or someone, but don’t realize that God already gave us an answer. Sometimes I think God must be thinking, “What are these people doing? I answered them already!”. It is amazing that our God is a patient God.
This is also something I experienced in my practical life the past several months. Since coming to Detroit six years ago, I’ve been praying to find a stable job. A few months ago, I realized that God already gave me the means to find a stable job. There is a specific skillset I have that is quite rare among technology people. When I re-organized my jobsearch based on that skillset, my phone and email inbox were suddenly swamped with job possibilities. God had already answered my prayer; I just needed to take action with what I had. This is a major life lesson I’ve been learning in recent years. Be thankful for what I have and look to what God has already given me for answers.
Wow, this is the second time I came here, and realized that
there are already so many discussions going on here. I usually
don’t like posting online, but I had to leave a comment here because
I really like your story here very much.
By the way, hi, Brian, I’m james yoo from South Korea.
I’m glad to be your friend!:)
Thank you so much for sharing your life of faith here.
Your story really helped me to think about the way God answers our prayer,
which is very important in our spiritual life as christians.
I hope God may bless your life richly in Detroit.
Hey Brian,
Your story reminds me of Daniel’s in the Bible how God sent answer to him on the very day he started praying.
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid , Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.” (Dan 10:12)
In prayer, we can rest assured that God our Father is gracious and He hears our prayers (which are according to His will) and answers when we call on Him humbly and earnestly.
I pray that God may continue to use you preciously for his good work in Detroit and that the skillsets you have aquired would glorify HIM everyday.
Thanks for sharing.
Greetings, James! I hope we can have input from our brothers in Christ in South Korea. Thank you for your prayers.
Tunde, thank you for the verse in Daniel. That is a great reminder that God hears and answers our prayers.
This reminds me of a scene in the movie, Shadowlands. Anthony Hopkins who plays C.S. Lewis prays deeply for his wife to heal from a deadly form of cancer. After months and months of praying, the cancer goes into remission. All of his friends are very happy for him and one of them comments something like, “It looks like all your prayer has been answered.” To which C.S. Lewis responds, “I don’t pray to change God’s mind, I pray because it changes mine.”
His point was a deep one. We often pray give me this.. or that… when all the things we desire and pray for are in some way or another simply a desire to know and be known by God. So after long bouts of prayer, we all get what we want in growing closer to God.