Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
It’s not always easy to write insights from the Lord. And for me, nasty pride can certainly get in the way. Often I learn my lessons through failure and writing about them to others…so then I have to admit to them. 🙂
I suspect you understand exactly what I mean.
God’s given me hints throughout life that he hears my prayers and blesses me more when I am following fully what He wants of me. This makes perfect sense. But what I didn’t realize until a few weeks ago is that my prayers for others might also be affected when I am not fully being obedient.
Recently, I finally gave in on something that God had asked me to do. I mean, not only did He ask, He sent hint after hint after hint that this is what He wanted to do. Ongoing. For several months. And I fought it with all that I have. Have you guessed that I am stubborn? Sigh. I should have known that I wouldn’t have full peace until I was obedient.
It did not completely surprise me that God started answering more of my prayers for myself when I finally gave in.
What surprised me is that He started answering my prayers for other people. For instance, I was helping a gal who was in a custody suit for her child after a very abusive marriage. Her former husband was being manipulative and abusive and the courts believed him. Between him and his attorney, they had not only convinced the courts that she was crazy, but they had taken her child away a year ago. She’d been unable to see or talk to her child since. In spite of me helping her try to get representation and praying fervently with her week after week after week, everything continued to go downhill. Until last week. One of our prayers was finally answered-just as she was ready to give up. She now has hope.
At a weekly class that I hold, three other women came forward and said that God had answered our prayers from the week before. And that was just the beginning. There became so many “answers to my prayers” that every time I turned around, there was a new one. And in addition, an area of my life that had not shown progress for years suddenly made a turn for the better within days.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:…” I will let you read the rest of the verse as there are some interesting things that meant a lot in that day (blessings of crops, etc) but would likely be a bit different these days.
Now are these answers to prayer due to ME? Absolutely not. Nothing to do with me. Only the mighty power of our Lord God who wanted to show me that He truly does bless those who fully obey Him.
I struggle with some guilt now, of course. Would more of my prayers for others have been answered if I had been obedient earlier? Several times in His word, God specifically mentions blessings for future descendants due to acts of obedience. Have I been the block in some of my descendants fully accepting the love of God for them? 🙁
I experienced the other side a few days ago. I had been having pain in an area and a specific ultrasound showed nothing. A new ultrasound with different parameters was ordered for next week. But on Saturday after I had prayed for the ladies in my morning Zoom group, one of them requested to pray for me. I felt comfortable so shared some of what has been going on. She prayed for me and can you guess what happened next? My pain disappeared. It’s been gone now for two days.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
Thank you, Lord.
