Thursday, November 11, 2010

Answered Un-Prayers

So here's a question I have been considering. I am a huge believer in the power of prayer - that all prayers are answered, even if the answer is "No." I believe that it is very reasonable that God may want to give us the things we ask for, so long as they are in His best interest and ours. I have no trouble that God CAN answer even the hardest prayer and that he is WILLING to answer prayers for even relatively small things. I don't like to pray for silly things, but I think God can use answers to silly prayers to bolster faith in others.

But here's my question - does God answer prayers we don't ask? I have found this phenomenon appearing with almost regularity in my life. A problem comes up that I either believe is to small to pray about, or that I just neglect to pray over. And yet, the problem resolves itself with miraculous speed. Now, if I didn't have a strong faith, I would call this luck, and I don't really have a problem calling it luck now. But I still wonder if it may be more than that. Is it wrong to think that maybe God is trying to get my attention? To say, "Sarah, you didn't bring this to me, but look what I can do if you would!" A little reminder to bring everything to Him.

Now, whether we believe that God does reach down and solve insignificant problems in our lives or not, there is no reason why we can't be grateful to Him. We are supposed to thank God for all our blessings, and so these answered un-prayers (as opposed to unanswered prayers) are most certainly a cause for thanks! As the Christmas song says, we should go to sleep "counting blessings instead of sheep." And maybe that is the lesson I need to learn today.

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