Many times, while waiting on God’s answer to our prayers; we fail to realize that the answer has already been delivered – we just fail to recognize the package. We make a request to God with a specific response in mind. When God answers in a different fashion that expected; many believers fail to recognize the answered prayer and concluded -or are counseled by fellow believers- that God will answer their prayer “in His own time”. So as we continue to make our request before God and plead that He will give us patience to understand that He “works in His time”; the Father must want to come down from His Heavenly Throne, shake us, and scold, “Your prayer has been answered! Examine what is before you, and understand how you are to gain from what has been given!”
From the previous two posts on the subject of discerning prayer; the believer, first, took what was oblivious – and with that made an answer to his prayer. In the second post, we discuss the fact that discernment is critical in examining God’s response to our request. Looking beyond the obvious answer, the believer in our example needed to examine the facts:
1) He saw a pile of scrap material which he could put to use and concluded this was the obvious answer to his prayer.
2) The foreman had granted permission to collect anything which the believer needed from scrap of the building site.
3) More importantly, the foreman had voluntarily offered the use of his tools to assist the stranger in his effort.
With these facts, it is reasonable to conclude that the foreman would be willing to share his construction expertise with the stranger. Had the believer asked, the foreman may have even been willing to take the believer on as an apprentice – and he could barter his time spent at the site, for quality building material. The believer could have learned from a skill craftsman how to handle the various tools associated with the profession. What was the purpose of each tool? How to use the tool in various tasks? How to care for his tools? And lastly; how to build a quality structure which would endured the cold of the winter – and the heat of summer?
God provides us with everything necessary to make it through this life. But He expects us to grow in our Christian faith – and not be “spoon fed” through our entire walk with Him. He expects us to look beyond the obvious!