Prayers and Answers

There's this song I remember listening to as a teenager, Garth Brooks "Unanswered Prayers". I used to sing the chorus in my head.
"Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers".

It's interesting isn't it that we spend so much time praying for certain things. Sometimes the answer is no and we learn eventually that His 'no' was a gift to us. But sometimes the answer is a little different.

I don't remember where I first heard this story but it's a good example for what we're talking about today.

There was a flood and a man was praying that God would send someone to save him. He sat on his roof and a lifeboat came along.
"Get in and I'll save you."
But the man waved him off, "That's okay, God will save me."
Another boat came along, "Get in and I'll save you."
But the man waved off the second boat, "That's okay, God will save me."
Then a helicopter came and they told the man to get in but he waved them off. "That's okay God will save me."
The flood waters rose and the man drowned, when he got to heaven he said, "God, why didn't you save me?"
God shook his head, "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you want?"

Sometimes God answers our prayer with a yes. He gives us exactly what we're looking for but instead of being grateful and taking the gift we're too busy praying for what we want. We don't realize that God's already answered us! We've become too focused on our prayer and not Who we're praying too.

This became very clear to me recently. Some friends and I had been praying about getting a house together. We'd prayed and prayed and when the house finally came along I doubted.
'This is too fast.'
'Are we sure we can really afford it?'
'Is God going to provide the rest of what I need for this to work?'
'Are we making the right decision?'

This was what we'd prayed for and everything lined up in a way that could only have come from God but still I doubted. How fleeting our faith often is, mine included.

In the end we decided to take the leap of faith and got the house. We don't always know how things will go but when we pray we need to pay attention to the answer and be content with it, whatever it is.