How Can We Tell When God Answers Prayers?
Prayer is the most commonly practiced spiritual discipline. Whether with a nighttime one-liner or an extended period of prayer and fasting, almost 80 percent of Americans pray. With all these prayers going up, how can we tell when God answers our prayers?
I recently completed a time of corporate prayer and fasting with my church. For twenty-one days, I left certain foods out of my diet while praying with intention. At the beginning of the fast, I listed prayer needs like relationships and direction for the future. I also prayed for close friends and my church’s leadership.
While I am patient in many things, prayer is not one of them. After the final “amen,” I start looking for signs and wonders. This is especially true during periods of fasting. I don’t believe God listens better when I deny myself sugar and bread, but I do expect answers sooner.
After twenty-one days of eating mostly veggies and praying, I could trace a few small events back to my prayer time. Yet God seemed silent on the big things. Some of them even got worse.
Over the past few years of engaging in this practice, I’ve learned that God’s timing and his answers are his own. He hears our prayers, and he answers them. However, the answers don’t always come when we want them, nor do they line up precisely with our requests.
Is a prayer answered only if our problem is solved?
A quick scroll through my Facebook feed yields an overwhelming list of prayer needs—sickness, financial stress, broken relationships, decisions about the future. My prayer time includes similar personal needs. Is a prayer considered “answered” only when resolutions are tidy and timely?
Sometimes prayers for healing are answered with miracles. Prayers for reconciliation can lead to a happily-ever-after ending. Even when this is not the case—for instance, when death or divorce result—we can see evidence that God hears our prayers. His answers may come in the form of unexplainable peace or a friend holding our hand through it all.
Even when the answers don’t look like we want them to, God’s presence is evident when we pray. Through faith, we see the relationship between the prayers we pray and the events in our lives. Coincidences become divine intervention when filtered through this faith lens. Answers come in the form of a well-timed phone call, an unexpected refund check, or a baby sleeping a little later, allowing you extra quiet time. Even reaching a dead end on a coveted opportunity can be an answer to a prayer for protection and guidance.
When we take the time to reflect on our prayers, we begin to see traces of God’s hand at work. I write my prayers in a journal for this very reason. Too often I miss the connection between my prayer and the events of my day. The practice of reading my prayers helps me clearly see the many ways God answers them.
An unprayed prayer is an unanswered prayer.
The very act of praying trains our eyes to see God at work. Without this spiritual discipline, we miss the ways God’s divine intervention intersects with our desperate need.
As I walk from my car to the office, I try to pray for guidance and wisdom. The decisions I make at work affect the recovery process of our patients as well as the financial success of our hospital. In the first few months in this position, I often wavered and second-guessed myself.
One morning, tired of feeling overwhelmed, I asked God to guide my decisions specifically concerning the medical care of our patients. A few hours later, as I flipped through a patient’s chart, one of our doctors greeted me. I presented a question to him, and he provided a clear answer. He was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. As I walked back to my office, I knew my simple parking lot prayer had been answered.
Later that same day, our medical director stopped by the office. He wanted that doctor to join the decision-making process long-term. If I hadn’t seen the first encounter as a clear answer to prayer, there was no denying the hand of God at work now!
Without the parking lot prayer that morning, these two encounters would be incidental. In light of my prayer, my faith grew that day. I felt seen, heard, and valued by God. It encouraged me to heed Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:6: “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (CSB).
Will God ever answer my prayer?
The big prayers from my fasting days are still “under construction.” While I haven’t seen a blatant miracle, I do see small shifts and changes that assure me God hears and answers my prayers.
Some of these shifts and changes occur in me—a much-needed change in my heart. These changes leave me better equipped to wait for more of God’s answers. It’s the promise on the other side of Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 4: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (verse 7 CSB).
If you’ve been praying for something a long time, don’t give up. God hears you.
If you’re skeptical, give prayer a chance. Take your needs to God and watch as he answers your prayers. When you see him do so, even in the smallest way, let someone know about it. We could all use the reminder that God always answers our prayers!
is a small town girl who married a small town man. They have three children. In the quiet minutes of her day, you will find her at the keyboard or curled up with a book–always with coffee. Kelly believes we are created for community and loves to find ways to connect with other women who are walking in the shadow of the cross. She blogs at mrsdisciple.com.
Photograph © Ben White, used with permission
