Tag: answered prayer

Posted in Advent devotions

Your prayer has been heard

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

Zechariah was just doing his job. He burned incense in the temple, a symbol of prayers reaching God in heaven. It was an honor. A privilege. A duty.

In the cloud of smoke created by burning incense, an angel of the Lord appears and says to Zechariah, “Your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13).

Zechariah had been praying, too. He had been praying for his wife, for his family, and for his future. Both he and his wife Elizabeth were older and had no children. I imagine his prayer was simple. “Lord, could we just have a child?”

I’ll bet your prayer list is filled with petitions for friends, family, and those you hardly know. You got the prayer email, and now you come to the throne of God’s grace, confidently asking for his mercy for all these friends and strangers. Nice job. And of course, you slip in your own requests, too.

Zechariah, God has heard your prayers. God is going to answer your prayer. You are going to be a father! You and Elizabeth are going to have a son.

And not just any son. Their son would be John the Baptist. He was be part of God’s plan to bring a Savior to the world. His bold preaching would prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah and Elizabeth were a part of God’s plan!

None of us ever know how we or our children will be a part of God’s plan. I read somewhere that a person’s path to the Lord was paved with many stones, that is, people who play a part in God reaching someone with his love and mercy. You never know which of those stones you are.

So just keep doing your job and saying your prayers. You never know when an angel or God himself will show up with an unexpected message or blessing.

Zechariah gets an ornament on the Jesse Tree, the father of the one whose voice would be heard in the desert, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”

Posted in prayer

Why was I so surprised?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Why are we so surprised when God answers our prayer in just the way we wanted? OK, why am I so surprised?

It wasn’t a complicated request. It wasn’t even for me. It was for a friend of mine who needed a medical procedure, but couldn’t get scheduled for three months. I told them I’d put in a request for them, and simply prayed that God would bump up their appointment.

A few days later, I got a call, and they let me know that an appointment opened up just three weeks from then. They were so tickled that they called me right away to let me know. I was pretty tickled, too. Amazed, actually.

But why be amazed? Why doubt for a moment that God knows and deeply cares about the things that weigh on our hearts and minds? I guess there are many possible answers to that question.

I guess a part of us feels like it’s a long shot to ask God for something. Why would he do anything for us? After all, what have we done for him lately? He’s got to wade through a lot of prayer requests from a lot of faithful people who have much bigger issues than a doctor’s appointment.

Either that, or a part of me feels like I don’t deserve any favors from God. Which is entirely true. I know what I deserve, and it certainly isn’t good. But we ask anyway, because scripture tells us over and over again that God is merciful, that God hears and that God cares deeply about my worries, concerns, fears and desires.

Even though I pray for a lot of people and about a lot of issues, I rarely find out how those prayers were answered. We should share these blessings more often. It’s good to be reminded of and tickled by God’s grace. It’s awesome to be surprised by his love and goodness.

And I like to believe he’s tickled when he surprises us with a blessing, too!