I recently had the privilege of speaking at a fundraiser at the school where our grandchildren attend, Trinity Christian School. The theme was “The Joy of Answered Prayer”. I love the thought of answered prayer.
My mind goes back to the time I learned about prayer as a kid. My Mom was the one who taught me to pray. It was a simple prayer:
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.”
I remember as a child simply believing that God and the angels would keep me safe while I slept. All these years later I have the
joy of knowing God has kept me safe every single night of my life.
We go from a childlike trust in God to adult thoughts like, “Does God really answer prayer?”
I love the verse that says, “Ask and it shall be given. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened.” The line we quote most from this verse is “Ask and it shall be given” because we believe if we ask, God will answer.
My own life’s experiences have taught me to believe that it’s the seeking and knocking that is the most difficult kind of prayer. Seeking and knocking is an indication we’re in it for the duration.
Asking for something takes very little effort but seeking and knocking takes faith, patience, and persistence.
Growing up on an Amish farm, prayer was a part of my life. This was a result of my parents, my church, and my school teaching me the importance of prayer. Because of that, I have been able to weather the storms of life. I actually learned the Lord’s Prayer in the German language as a six year old by my Sunday School teacher. I learned it in record speed and was rewarded with a small embroidered handkerchief.
Prayer has truly shaped my life and I believe one of the most important gifts my parents gave me was the love of prayer.
Pray about everything.
As a kid, I simply believed that God answers prayer. This foundation of God and prayer have taken me through the darkest times with a faith that says, I will get through this, even when I had very little hope and it looked like there was no way out.
Trinity Christian School is one of our most recent answers to an “ask and it shall be given” prayer. In December of 2013, we moved from Pennsylvania to Texas and our daughter’s family moved to Arizona. My mamma heart and grandma’s heart went into full-blown grief mode.
Our single most important prayer for the grandchildren was for God to provide a school for them similar to the one they were attending in Lancaster, Pa. God answered that prayer. My heart was overjoyed at how quickly the prayer was answered. (I love when God answers prayer quickly.)
Seeking & Knocking Kind of Prayers
After years of living a life of spiritual confusion, despair, and depression, the joy of answered prayer came in the form of a little old lady in our church – Aunt Dorothy.
After the truth of my life was exposed she came to us and told us she was praying for our family every morning because she felt there was something very wrong. Aunt Dorothy did the “Seeking and knocking” kind of praying. I am forever grateful for her prayers for my family during a time when my prayers were more about asking God why. I was in such spiritual darkness I didn’t have the strength to seek and knock, but God gave me Aunt Dorothy who knew how to do that.
Ask and believe the answer is on the way.
Seek and believe the answer is on the way.
Knock and believe the answer is on the way.
When it’s dark, and you cannot see the light, pray anyway. When you’re discouraged and cannot feel Gods presence, pray anyway, because when you do the “seeking and knocking” kind of praying, the results are staggering and cannot be measured with human understanding. Seeking and knocking kind of prayers produce supernatural results.
I cannot imagine a living my life without prayer. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for teaching me that God answers prayer. Any kind of prayer.
I encourage you to keep praying.
Ask,
Seek,
Knock.
The answers are supernatural.
