Getting what you pray for

We all have things in life that we want. We all have things we need. Some are more basic, some more superficial. I have learned some things about praying...and I would like to share it with you. Not because I have arrived or have attained something special, but because I think knowing this would have helped me along the way.

"God, open this door so that we can have more, do more, be more..."

"God, provide food for my kids tonight..."

"God, give us a place to sleep tonight..."

"God, please keep my son, daughter, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife from using drugs...help them get clean..."

"God, get me through this day..."

"God, protect me..."

"God, protect my kids...they're really your kids...on loan to me, so please protect them..."

"God, give me strength..."

"God, heal me..."

"God, heal my son, daughter, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, mother, father, sister, brother, friend..."

These are just some of the prayers we might pray. Some of these I have prayed myself and some are just examples that I know must touch God's ears millions of times a day.

Here's what I have learned about praying and asking God to do something.

1. I easily limit God's ability with my small-minded prayers. God's ability is infinitely greater than what I can imagine or comprehend. Ephesians 3:20-21
2. I must be prepared for the answer He will give. He will certainly answer my prayer; however, He may not choose to answer the prayer that I asked in the way I that I asked it to be answered. Isaiah 55:8-9
3. He may ask me to do something. To move. To change. He may tell me something I do not want to hear. Over time...I have learned to be prepared for the things I do not want to hear. Proverbs 1:7.

Sometimes in my life, I have gotten so used to living in this present struggle (whatever it might be) that when God answers my prayers and moves me forward, I find it hard to live without the struggle I asked HIM to fix, change, remove, etc.

We become accustomed to the pain. We grow comfortable in the stress and pressure. And when we're moved out of it or even to a different level of it, we have no clue what to do. We finally have our answered prayer and suddenly we begin to ask God why. 

I'm there. I'm in the midst of this cycle today. I asked. God answered. And I'm scared. And yet, I know that God, my father; God, the creator; God, the almighty - He heard me, He answered me. My prayer did not fall on deaf ears. My prayer did not dissipate into the atmosphere. My prayer was heard and answered by a God who loves me more than I can imagine, more than I deserve, and He can do immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine. 

I am in awe...what I do with God's blessing is now up to me...