When You Pray

READ: PSALM 145:17-19; ACTS 12:5-17

After we ask God for something in prayer, it can be easy to just move on without actually looking for His answer. We can get distracted by a thousand different things that steal our attention away—meanwhile His answer to our prayer is right in front of us.

We find an example of this when Peter is thrown in prison and the believers begin earnestly praying for him. God answers their prayers by sending an angel to free Peter and lead him right out of the jail. But when Peter gets to the house where they’re all still praying for him, they can’t believe it’s Peter at the door! Finally they let him in, amazed at what God had done.

Sometimes, when we don’t notice God’s answers to our prayers, we can get into trouble by trying to answer our own prayers. If God is telling us to wait on Him to work, and we insist on manufacturing our own solutions instead, it can only lead to trouble.

When we pray, how often do we look and listen for God’s answers? As people who’ve put our trust in Jesus, we have His Holy Spirit living in us. That means we can be in constant communication with God through prayer, and we can always expect some kind of answer when we pray. But it can be difficult to see those answers sometimes. Especially when we expect—or want—a certain answer and we’re not willing to accept any other. But maybe God will show us there’s something unexpected we can do about a situation that concerns us. Maybe He’ll show us an area of sin in our lives that we need to confess and give over to Him. Maybe He’ll simply offer us comfort. When we trust the Holy Spirit to help us be open to whatever answer God gives, we’re better equipped to notice what He’s doing in and around us. • A. W. Smith

• Can you think of a time you saw God answer prayer in an unexpected way? What happened?

• Jesus is with us in all our pain and concerns. He cares about us and promises to make all things new one day. How can remembering His faithful love help us listen and wait for His answers?

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. 1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)