“Mom, how fast does God answer prayer?” My 6-year old daughter asked me this BIG question on a night she was having some fears about throwing up like she had seen a classmate do earlier in her school day. Right before my eyes, I saw anxiety take over her body as she was shaking and feeling sick to her stomach. The mind and body do that, you know? They make you think and feel like you are going to be sick. They make you feel like you have lost all control. I know this because I struggle with anxiety too.
In my almost 44 years of life, I have learned how to fight against my anxiety with deep breathing exercises, telling myself truths, scripture, worship music and prayer. When my 6-year old told me she couldn’t go to sleep because she couldn’t get the image of her sick classmate out of her mind and as her body revealed to me that her anxiety was running rampant, I knew it was time to turn to Jesus. His words from Matthew 11:28 came to mind. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Together her and I went to Jesus for His promised rest! We took deep breaths. We spoke our truths. We cuddled. We listened to worship music. We prayed. We called on the name of Jesus and proclaimed His powerful name over and over again.
She didn’t calm down right away. She didn’t stop shaking. She started to cry. She still felt sick. She was very thirsty. She couldn’t sleep. And that’s when her BIG question came out! “How fast does God answer prayer?”
How do you answer a question like that from a precious young girl who hasn’t seen or experienced much in this fallen world? How do you explain prayer and the patience it requires to a little blue eyed girl who desperately wants out of her current situation? How do you honestly tell your child that sometimes God takes a very long time to answer prayer? And how do you find the courage to share that He might not give you exactly what you want right away or at all?
Prayer is such a mystery! I am confident in the One I pray to but God too is a mystery! He reveals a lot about Himself and His Son through scripture. But there is still so much we don’t know and won’t know until we are in Glory with Him! Even though I have wrestled with the questions and mystery of prayer, I hold on to hope that one day it will all make sense!
Sometimes prayer is downright agonizing. My husband’s family and I, along with many other family and friends prayed with great faith that his dad and sister would be healed from COVID-19. But God chose to heal them by taking them Home. He didn’t give us what we wanted. My family and I have prayed for my mom to be healed from cancer. He answered and healed her. But she got cancer again and again and again. I have joined others in praying for the prodigal to return, the finances to come in, the war to cease, the ailment to forever go away, for justice to be served, for miracles to unfold, for love to be found or renewed, for broken relationships to be restored, for food and water to be provided, for earthly healing and for so much more! I don’t always get the answers I want. My family and friends don’t always get the answers they so desperately desire.
Prayer is also a beautiful journey! I believe with all my heart that God hears me! I believe that He loves me and He cares deeply about what I pray about. I believe that God wants me to talk to Him and pour my heart out to Him! I believe that He does answer my prayers! I have many examples where I know and have witnessed God working to bring resolution to what I asked for. Yes, sometimes it has been an answer of “no” or “not right now.” But there are also so many examples of His “yes.” This journey of prayer is so deeply personal with my Savior! I have to constantly be connected to Him because when He does answer a prayer that I don’t particularly like, I have to reflect and remember His goodness and faithfulness! I have to remind myself that His ways are always better than mine! And I have to trust Him!
That night my 6-year old was praying for God to take away her stomach ache, her body shakes, and a scary image in her mind. In the midst of her frustration and doubt and with desperation in her voice she said, “God didn’t answer my prayer!” Time stood still. I understood where she was coming from. I could relate to her. I had been there before, so many times. I didn’t know what to say to her. But deep in my spirit I felt very protective of God. I wanted my daughter to know that her feelings were validated and understandable but I also wanted her to know that I serve a God who is real and answers!!
Prayer is powerful! I will proclaim that truth again and again as long as I live. I have seen Him answer my prayers and the prayers of people from all over the world! I have seen Him do things that only He can do-miracles that only He is capable of.
In the quietness of my bedroom, with my 6-year old daughter tucked into a bed of blankets on the floor next to me, I saw God answer prayer! Just as she was nodding off to sleep, God pointed out to me that He had shown up. There my daughter lay-not shaking, not crying, a stomach soothed, the scary image gone. I felt God nudge me to say one more thing to my daughter before she was sound asleep. “Grace, guess what? God did answer your prayers! See? You aren’t shaking anymore, your stomach doesn’t hurt, your mind is clear. I want you to know that God is real and He did give you what you prayed for!”
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
May I live this out in my own prayer journey and as I raise my children in theirs!
