Prayer Works

This week I prayed the prayer of faith, and God answered.

Since last October, I have been eagerly awaiting one critical piece of documentation to be sent from the government. This particular item would be my ticket to legally live and work in a certain other country, the same country in which my wife-to-be lives.

Today marks exactly one month before our wedding date. As you may guess, I have grown increasingly anxious about receiving the necessary document. (Those of you with experience in waiting on governmental processes will understand how frustratingly unpredictable this situation can be.)

Two days ago, I decided to try something. I decided to pray with faith—that is, the expectation of a tangible answer. So I prayed that morning for my letter to arrive on that same day from the government. I prayed and forced myself to assume it would actually arrive that day.

It did. Apparently, my prayer worked (or it was one hell of a coincidence).

This made me wonder just how many of my prior requests have gone unanswered merely because I did not ask and expect a direct answer. This seemingly small answer to prayer has convinced me to pray with increased faith and confidence from now on. I’ll let you know what happens.

(I also wonder if perhaps God had been planning that delivery for Tuesday all along, and if he had therefore prompted me to pray in order that the result would increase my faith. Or would the letter have never come if I hadn’t prayed? These are the theological issues which bog my noggin at times. For more nog-boggling, I recommend a semi-related article on Master Matt’s blog.)