What's behind an answered prayer?
We honor the outcome, but do we value the sacrifice?
“May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.” —Ephesians 3:18-19
When she was in high school, my daughter gave me what was probably the nicest gift I ever received.
A music CD.
What’s that, you say? A CD doesn’t sound like such a big gift? Well, maybe you’ve forgotten that back then we had to listen to music on coaster-like disks.
Did that not do it for you? Maybe if I give you a few more details about this CD, it will help.
It had eight of my favorite hymns. Each one was performed by the kids in my youth group. My son and daughter sang “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” Morgan and Sarah played “And Can It Be” on their flutes. Katie, Joe, Rachel, and Alicia led a brass ensemble in “Amazing Grace.” Olivia, Katherine, Elizabeth, and my son played a clarinet quartet of “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” James and my daughter performed a cello duet of “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.” Margaret, Lidia, and Lars backed up the pieces on piano.
My daughter requisitioned the sheet music and arranged for James to record the performances using his sound equipment. Gracie designed the cover based on my favorite superhero.
It was extraordinary. I was overwhelmed. All of this was just for me. She sacrificed so much of her time and effort on this project — they all did — because they loved me.
Do you understand now why I cherish that small, simple gift so much?
Good, then maybe you’ll understand why every prayer that God answers, even the most menial, is a gift worthy of similar admiration.
Think of the quickest, simplest prayer you’ve ever uttered. Now, imagine what God had to do to make it happen. That’s an aspect of prayer we rarely consider. We honor the outcome, but do we value the process?
I once prayed that a package would arrive before a certain deadline. By the time I uttered that prayer, that package might have been a thousand miles away with no hope of getting to me on time, barring a celestial wormhole. God had to anticipate my prayer, motivate the vendor to process it in a timely manner, cause the delivery service to pick it up by a certain day, and clear out a number of other packages to make room for mine — not to mention inspire people to invent mail service and mass transport. The number of tasks needed to answer that single, simple prayer would require a legion of angels to accomplish.
But it was accomplished, and my response was to give God a wink of gratitude and carry on with my business as if it were just another natural occurrence. This despite the truth that God’s thoughtfulness, execution, and care were far more in line with my daughter’s effort than with a blasé wave of a magician’s wand.
We may deliver small prayers, but there are no small answers. Every gift from God is a miracle of effort and devotion that would utterly exhaust our faculties if we tried to match it.
Honoring this reality is one small way we can fulfill the wish of the writer of Ephesians, who stated, “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.”
Gratitude should, by nature, include contemplating the extraordinary steps God takes to answer our prayers. Doing so will enrich us with even deeper appreciation for God’s love — just as I will always cherish my daughter’s love for me on a special birthday many years ago.
Graceful Contemplation
“Almost certainly God is not in Time. His life does not consist of moments following one another. If a million people are praying to Him at ten-thirty tonight, He need not listen to them all in that one little snippet which we call ten-thirty. Ten-thirty—and every other moment from the beginning of the world—is always the Present for Him. If you like to put it that way, He has all eternity in which to listen to the split second of prayer put up by a pilot as his plane crashes in flames.”— C.S. Lewis
Thank you for reading!
June was a month of relaxation after a wonderful school year. I had a great evening at Cocktails for a Cause talking with former students and celebrating the work of the Lowcountry Literacy Project. I also visited some friends in Charlotte at HeroesCon and spent valuable time with my cousin and stepmom. It was a memorable month!
Love this message! :-)