Dear Shepnerd...

Dear Shepnerd, Does God really answer prayers? And if God does, when you don't get what you pray for, does that mean God has said no?

The fast answer, and a true one, is, “Yes. God really answers prayers.” Miracles, wonders and interventions happen every day, but not at our command and certainly not in any predictable pattern. It seems the only thing God wants you to be able to predict with reliability is God’s love for you.

Prayer is much deeper than a series of requests and questions. Prayer is a communion with God – a time to spend together sharing life, love, issues, fears, dreams and hopes. Praying isn’t just telling God what you want or need. It is sharing time with God where those needs and God’s needs for you are discussed in an atmosphere of forgiveness, reverence and love. In the Bible we are instructed over and over to pray about our sicknesses, our visions, our needs and our leaders. God wants to hear from us and empathize about where we are with things. God doesn’t want to just receive the ticket and sign the check. God wants to walk with us through this world. So at those times when all you can do is ask – Yes, God answers. But strive to make a life where asking is only one part of a full walk with God.

So when you pray for something you really want – or need – and it doesn’t happen – what’s up with that??? Jesus tell us “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). At a quick reading it sounds like God’s answer to prayer is always a resounding YES! – But read it again.

Jesus isn’t saying God gives us bread if we ask for bread – he just says God doesn’t give us a stone. In other words – God is not cruel or mean in response to our requests. God takes them seriously (unlike the pagan gods of Rome and Greece who played with people for their own amusement). God answers all prayers – but that answer is as varied as the mind of God. Jesus goes on to say we get “good gifts” - a larger and less clear term. So if you ask for bread, you may get bread, or you may get seeds to plant wheat to harvest to make bread, or you may get a pamphlet on the evils of too many carbohydrates and balanced diet plan with bread alternatives. There are only 2 certain things when we pray: 1 – we will be heard. 2 – we will be answered.

God answers “Yes” on occasion – giving us everything we asked for just in the way we imagined it would happen. Sometimes God’s answer is, “no, this is not a good idea.” At other times, God’s answer is “Not now”, or “not this way”, or “wait til you see what I have around the corner for you – it’s much better!” We are God’s children and like any good parent, God needs a multitude of answers to raise and guide us through every day life. It doesn’t mean we are less loved or being ignored. It means God loves us enough to guide our whole lives and honor the gifts to us of free will, nature and faith in the process.

So ask of God anything you want, need or desire and then be prepared for an individual, loving, response from a Creative God who wants to give you “good gifts”.