THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYER

One advantage for my living a long life is being able to see God answer prayers when it takes a long time.  Many times, I would hear about people crediting their praying relative with helping them to come to salvation, helping God to redeem their poor choices, or God helping them to fulfill His purpose in them. Sometimes this happened after their relative had passed.  Our prayers can leave a timeless legacy, but it can be faith building to see the answers in our lifetime.

I have two very recent testimonies of friends to share about God reconciling family relationships.  One friend has four older children who are all girls.  All four got caught up in believing that their hurt, anger, and wounds were the result of their parents deciding to move the family out of state to be closer to extended family.  The parents had difficulty finding jobs with adequate income to provide for the girls’ expected lifestyle during their teen and early adult lives.  These four women started going to a church and receiving counselling through the church.  The counsellors advised them to cut off all communication with the parents.  This was the situation for about seven years.  My friend’s daughters had children she has never met.  Recently, she had an unexpected encounter with one daughter and her husband at a farmers’ market.  One of the most powerful weapons of our warfare is humility.  She shared with this couple how sorry she was for her decisions that hurt her daughters so deeply.  She asked for forgiveness and if they could meet again to help bring reconciliation.  They plan to do this.

Fifty years ago, my friend’s husband was unfaithful and asked for a divorce. Even though my friend encouraged him to follow through with visiting his five-year-old son and the three-year-old son, he had no interest in doing so.  The boys felt abandoned and became rebellious during their teen years.  They faced some tough consequences and went on to marry, be unfaithful, and abandon their children.  Both sons are now saved.  One son has been reconciled to his children.  The newest change has been with their father.  They found out that he is in hospice.  The older son went to him and led him to the Lord.  The father agreed to meet with both his sons.  The sons were apprehensive, but it turned out better than they could have hoped.  The father told his younger son that he was proud of him.  It was the first time he had ever heard that from his dad.  There has finally been reconciliation.

If you are waiting for God to answer a prayer, I find it helpful to ask Him for a scripture to stand on.  I have several friends I pray for about reconciliation with their children.  Since the two testimonies I shared are about this, I will give you two favorites I use for this.

¹⁵ This is what the Lord says:“A voice is heard in Ramah,Lamenting and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children;She refuses to be comforted for her children,Because they are no more.”

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weepingAnd your eyes from tears;For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,“And they will return from the land of the enemy.¹⁷ There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord,“And your children will return to their own territory.

Jeremiah 31:15-17

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.”

Malachi 5:5-6

As always, if you need prayer support to hear from the Lord, you can schedule a Soul Hearing session.  We can ask the Lord to give you a scripture or if there is anything He wants you to know.