Answered Prayers

Matthew 7:7-8

My Dearest Lord,

You are such an amazing God.  You never let me down and You hear me every time I cry out to You.  You are not like Superman who can only save one person at a time.  You are not like Batman who can only handle the bad people in one town.  And you are not like Spiderman.....No spider webs for You, right God!

You are God!  Not just some measly ole superhero but God - my God, and I am so thankful that You are just the way You are.  I know You love me, Lord.  You show it many ways, and one way is that You hear my prayers and answer them.
 
"Keep asking, and it will be given unto you.  Seek, and  you will find.  Knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."      - Matthew 7:7-8

Now, that does not mean that bad things never happen.  Unfortunately, we live in a world where Satan is working really hard against us and the consequences of sin is everywhere.  We see pain and destruction everywhere we turn, but that is where praying to You helps.  Sometimes You perform miracles and cure cancer or stop a car accident from happening.  And other times You help comfort and give peace to those who's cancer will end up taking their life or provide strength and understanding to families after a devastating accident.

"...and now through an amazing cancer journey that has seen many, many blessings for our family and touched many lives with the hope, encouragement, and joy that only Christ can bring!" http://awilmeth.wordpress.com/
This is a perfect example of a woman who sees answered prayers even throughout her journey of breast cancer despite not knowing what the ending will be.  I can take a lesson from this for sure.

I have realized that when I pray to You, Lord, I usually pray for a huge miraculous event to happen to make things right again in my life and I get frustrated I don't get that answer from You.  I continue to pray and pray and pray to You with what I need and when You don't provide and after months or even years of praying I start to doubt and then all of a sudden my eyes are opened.  You had answered my prayer.  Sometimes You answer our prayers quietly, almost as if You tip-toe in at night and leave a present by our bed.   You had fixed my problem a long time ago by changing one tiny thing that I didn't even notice at the time, but that ended up making a world of difference.  But I'm still frustrated, God, except this time I'm frustrated at me because I realize I spent way to long fretting over what I thought was an unanswered prayer that I missed out on the wonderful blessings that came from your solution to answering my prayer.

It was hard for me in the past to understand why bad things happen to good people.  Then I thought of Jesus.  He was the best person to ever walk on the face of the earth, but he went through the worst pain of all.  Obviously, You could've stopped Christ's beating and crucifixion.  You could've forgiven our sins a different way, an easier way.  But it is because of Christ's sacrifice that many people understand You.  It is because of the pain He bore that many, for the first time feel  loved, and You knew this.  You knew You had to let Jesus be crucified so more people would believe.

But thankfully, Lord, when the bad times come you are just a prayer away.  You hear our cries and You answer them just like Matthew 7:7-8 says.  You maybe won't change the circumstances.  You maybe won't take away the pain completely, but you will always give us peace and understanding and hope when we need it.  You know what we need better than we do.  You know what is best and You always answer our prayers in our best interest, and for that I am very thankful.
In Jesus name, Amen.  

*From Google pictures*