It’s the last day before we leave and drive the 3000 miles home. The finances are short and the road is long. We are awaiting a cheque that will pay for the road trip. As the deadline for leaving quickly approaches the anxiety levels rise. You know what I mean because you have been there yourselves. Maybe you are still there.

We prayed and then prayed again and yes, again and again. A trip to the mailbox has not provided the answered prayer we were seeking. It is now the 12th hour for tomorrow we leave.

One last trip, one last time, not really expecting but there it is. A hallelujah, a quick run home and then to the bank. The prayer has been answered.

We’ve all had those moments when the prayer journey has been long, hope has given way to despair, expectancy of an answer has been kept low to avoid being further disappointed. And then it happens. As if we awaken from a dream, the answer we have been seeking is before us and we have the assurance that we have been both heard and responded to.

Then we somewhat chastise ourselves with thoughts like, “O ye of little faith. If you had but believed more, trusted more and fretted less you would have at least kept your blood pressure down”.

Why do we find it so difficult to believe, really believe that our prayers will be answered? Why does our anxiety rise as we near our deadlines or our disappointments (many times unspoken) cloud our heart’s desires? Why must it always seem almost midnight before the answer seems to come our way?

I often feel like I am still in prayer grade school, relearning the lessons I should have known by now but this I have learned in my journey. My faith is not strengthened because I have the answers I have sought. I have prayers that I am still waiting to be answered. Does this diminish my faith? No. It is not about my seeking answers to my prayers that will strengthen my faith.

My faith is strengthened because I spend time with my Creator and Redeemer. My prayer life has been moving away from a monologue in which I do all the talking, to stilling the mind and soul so that I might listen more, even to the sounds around me. This morning, sitting outside for my devotions, I could hear more clearly the sounds of nature as they awakened the day; feel the soft, cool breezes as they gently caressed my face; watch as the clouds floated effortlessly across the wide expanse of the heavens. It was as if all of nature was at rest and in that moment I found my soul at rest.

It is from that place of rest that I know that whatever comes my way, however my day unfolds, I can trust Him with all the concerns of my life. Whether my prayer is answered now, later or never I can rest in His unchanging grace and unfailing love for me.

“I know whom I have believed and I am fully persuaded that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him against that day!”

Blessings!