PRAYER THOUGHTS: WHAT DOES ANSWERED PRAYER LOOK LIKE?

"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13). * Answered prayer takes some surprising turns, but they always work out for God's glory and our blessing--even when the answer is, "No!" * Answered prayer can come disguised as hard work. God promised Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:6 "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace to it!'" (Zechariah 4:6ff). The rebuilding of the temple was an answer to the prayers of the Jewish people. God said He would help in the building--in fact, if it weren't for the the power of God it never would have been rebuilt. The Jews had no money, no tools, no weapons, but they worked. And, with God's provision, after 20 years of hard work and toil, in faith, the temple was built. It was an answer to prayer. * What I am trying to say is that sometimes God's answers to our prayers might not be what we expected, but they will always bless us. Prayers for wisdom, for example, might be answered with a disciplined study of the Bible in a Bible study group. Prayers for healing might be answered by following a disciplined life style. * Sometimes answered prayers meet our expectations, sometimes they do not. Before we assume the prayer is unanswered or the answer is, "No" we need to take a closer look and see if God has placed some resources at our disposal to use in making our request happen. * Love & Prayers, Tom * **For me, the answer to my prayers is the lovely and gracious Helen who has been a blessing to my life for 43 years.