Decades Old Prayer

It was an intercession prayer, but it directly impacted me
Not only did I pray about it, but I told God how to answer it
In my mind there was only one way to fix the problem
And I prayed very, very, hard He would adhere to me

But days went by, which turned into months, then years
Over a decade later problem was still there
I got tired of praying for God to answer prayer my way

Did I give up on thinking a God would answer this prayer?
I didn’t give up, but I stopped praying constantly about it
All the while I was praying to God to provide one way, I saw Him provide in other ways
It reminded of the scripture “ I never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:5)

God caused prosperity in other areas to exceed the lack
He blessed exceedingly and unexpectedly
So much, that I really didn’t need Him to answer the decades old prayer
BUT HE DID

Just got news a few days ago
It will be about 20 years exactly
God has answered the prayer better than I expected
And He fixed it so, that the problem will never occur again
God is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9).

Insight
In Isaiah 49:13-16 the Lord says He will never forget us. In times when our prayers go unanswered, we may think the God doesn’t hear us or He may not care to answer. But He hears and has compassion for us, and may provide in other ways until He answers our specific prayer.

My Story

At the gathering, during the time of remarks
I was going to tell the whole story
The sad, the rocky, everything
I was going to talk about the overcoming and going on to do amazing things
I thought by telling my story, I’d get glory
Because I’d emphasize the overcoming

But before I told my story, the Lord put some words in me
You’re telling this story, but haven’t checked with the family
Bad feelings towards you this may leave
And your story will cause others to live the past unnecessarily
His words caused me to think and meditate
Telling my story to all is not so great,
And who told me to tell everything anyway?
I remembered the scripture those that exalt them selves shall be abased (Matthew 23:12)

So when the time came to say something
I said nothing, as I would have had a lot to regret
A famous person once said “ some things are better not said”
Thanks Lord for giving me restraint.

Insight
Think before you speak.  Know your audience before you speak. Some things may need to be told, but be careful who you tell them to.  And make sure you are telling it to benefit them and not you.