God didn’t ignore me when I contacted Him or reject my request. God didn’t trivialise what I asked for or suppress my prayer. God ‘answers my prayers'.
I wonder how long the psalmist’s'I call on the Lord in my distress and he answers me’ Psalm 120:1 call to God lasted? Was it a quick call? Five-hour prayer meeting? A weekend prayer conference? A whole week of prayer or a 3-month sabbatical? Did the psalmist pray about his distress over a long period of time? Perhaps many years of petitioning?
We don’t know but we do know that God listened to the psalmist’s prayer and answered it.
Has God ever answered one of your prayers immediately?
Immediate response.
Sometimes, God answers our prayers by giving us exactly what we asked for straightaway. An immediate answer to prayer can be comforting, affirming and even lifesaving. An immediate answer to prayer shows us that God hears and responds to our needs without delay.
Delayed answer to prayer
Sometimes God grants our requests after a period of waiting. He gives us what we ask for not immediately but grants our requests some weeks, months, or even years later. Divine delays teach us patience and trust. A delayed answer to prayer reminds us that God’s timing is different from our own agenda.
Greater understanding
God’s answer to our prayers isn’t always what we asked for. Instead, it’s what we truly needed. Even if we were unaware of that need ourselves. God has the deepest knowledge and greatest insight into our lives. He understands our desires more deeply than we understand ourselves. So, God provides for us in ways that align with His greater purpose and our principal blessings.
Best outcome
Because God has a greater understanding of our hearts and circumstances, He answers our prayers with the most favourable outcome.
God doesn’t always give us what we ask for or what we thought we wanted. God specializes in providing what’s best for us. His answers to our prayers may not be clear immediately, but they will always lead to the perfect solution.
The crucifixion of Jesus didn’t look like a good answer to the world’s problems. But if you’re clued into the gospel of Christ, Christians know the death of Jesus on a cross is the very best solution to the world’s sins.
‘The whole creation groans and travails in pain’ Romans 8:22,
God knows our struggles and pain, so trust Him to provide a lasting solution for the world's shared suffering and needs.
Arrange a meeting with God
You may be familiar with the phrase, ‘Prepare to meet your God’
It’s a phrase primarily drawn from the biblical book of Amos 4:12.
It’s a warning sign for the end of the world and the beginning of the great and terrible Day of Judgment. Jesus is coming back, prepare to meet your God
But we can use the phrase prepare to meet your God as an encouragement to seek the Lord.
We can meet God in prayer. A prayer meeting. Whether we are praying alone or praying in a cooperate gathering of hundreds of people. A real prayer meeting is not merely a meeting taking place in a building or a meeting taking place at a time we choose.
A prayer meeting is fundamentally a meeting with God. It’s a spiritual encounter with our heavenly Father. It’s a personal engagement with the risen Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus has made a way for people to confidently approach God in prayer. Prepare to meet your God. And 'ask and it shall be given to you.' Mathew 7:7
The Holy Spirit helps us make requests in the name of Jesus Christ, John 14-17.
The Holy Spirit enables us to express adoration, gratitude, seek guidance, intercede for others, request all kinds of provision, and confess our sins. The Holy Spirit prepares me, to meet with my God in prayer
'I call on the Lord in my distress and he answers me’
Maybe you can fill in a contact form or put in a request for one of my sunset prayer times. Or get in touch and tell me about how God answered your prayers.