Are you waiting for an answers that have already come?

Have you given up on ever getting the answers to some of the prayers that you have prayed? If so, you are like the millions of people around the world who have "unanswered prayers". I used the quotes around this phrase for a reason. That's because there is not really such a thing as unanswered prayers...what we call unanswered prayers should really be called "ignored responses".

Matthew 6:8 "...your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Is. 65:24 “It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear."

Maybe you feel like that you have unanswered prayers because God has given you answers that you don't want and in turn you've pushed his answers aside.

My mentor always told me that our disappointment in the answers to prayer should not cause us question God...but to reevaluate the question itself that we have asked.

If you don't like the answer...change the question. It's as simple as that. These scriptures above can make you wonder why we should even pray at all if he has #1 already answered and #2 already knew what we needed before we prayed anyways.

It's the whole "Can I" questions verses the "May I" questions. If you remember in school, if you were to ask the teacher, "can I use the bathroom?" She would probably return the question to you...until you said, "May I use the bathroom?".

If you read the bible more often, you would realize that the the answer to your "can I" questions have already been answered!

Healing is yours...freedom is yours...purpose is yours. God has a plan for you. You have been destined for greatness. These are things you don't have to ask (can I?) for.

What we should be asking is for the "May I". These are the type of questions we should be asking and listening for a different kind of response response:

God...
It it your right timing for _______?
What do you want me to do to prepare myself in the waiting?
What is the strategy for my health?

God will always give you responses that require an action from you! This is why it's important that we are asking the right questions!

I challenge you in your prayer time this week...to change your questions that you are asking. Dare to ask the dangerous questions that will require more of a response from you. God has given us everything that week to succeed, we just have to tap into the potential that he has already given us!

In my own time I was reading the story of a man who was asking for healing from Jesus.

Luke 5:12
"While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him."

The truth is that God is willing...but are you? Are you prepared for the answer that God has already give you to some of your questions? Are you prepared to act with obedience when he gives you strategy to what you are asking for?