Friday, October 8, 2010

God Answers Prayer
By Lisa Boyer

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matthew 21:22

2009 began with a huge transition of leaving my church of 20 years and coming to Oakwood, a church much closer to home. I quickly knew I was where God wanted me, but there was a huge hole in my life. I was at a new church and all my friends were at my old church. It was painful, to say the least.

For a while, I calmly looked around my new church for my new best friend. God knew of my need and I honestly expected Him to point someone out and say, “There she is!” but that didn’t happen. Months later, filled with discouragement because God hadn’t answered my prayer, I convinced myself that I didn’t need friends. After all, God was enough. But the next Sunday, the pastor spoke on connections and how God designed us for connection with Him and with others.

Certain that that message was God’s confirmation that He acknowledged my need for a friend, I was sure that I would be finding that friend soon. But not so, time passed and there was no new best friend.

Though I continued to pray to God for a new best friend, it became a back-burner issue. I had more important things to occupy my time with, including ministry to the junior high girls at church. To gain insight into their world, I read a few books written for teens by Nancy Rue, one of them was Girl Politics. At the end of each chapter was a short exercise for the girls to do. One of the exercises instructed the readers to make a list of the significant people in their lives and the roles they play. I decided to do that exercise and made my own list. What I discovered was amazing.

I had always been told that God answers prayer in one of three ways: “yes,” “no,” and “not yet.” But that day, I discovered there is a fourth answer: “Look around, I already have.”

I cannot introduce you to the best friend I had prayed so diligently for, but I can show you my list…my list of the 12 amazing women in my life who together fill that role beautifully.

God does indeed answer prayer, just not always in the way we expect Him to.

GOING DEEPER:
1. Do you have an unanswered prayer? Is it possible that God has, in fact, answered the prayer in an unconventional way? Will you look around for that answer?

FURTHER READING:
Psalm 37:4; Mark 12:30-31

Lisa has been married to Ted for 18 years and they have two teenage sons. She is a co-leader for a Junior High girls’ small group at Oakwood Church.
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