Answers to Prayer
1 Samuel 1:12-17, 26-28 As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth, Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.” “Not so, my lord, : Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” . . . and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
Joshua 24:14-15 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.
Mathew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 21:22 “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Luke 11:5-10 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yes, because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you; Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened yo you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said, “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the please, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ He said, “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!'”
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray always, give thanks continually
James 5:16 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well ,the LORD will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
1 John 5:11-15 And this is the testimony; God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.
When my sister in law retired from hotel management in Richmond, they moved to the area. They were very familiar with the area and the neighborhood, and were fortunate to be able to rent a home across the street for the winter. During the summers, they would go to Alaska and work. My brother had been a pilot for a fishing lodge near King Salmon for the past several years. The first season, my sister in law joined him, hired as a housekeeper and it also included some meal prep and plating and delivering the meals. They returned in early October and settled back in for the winter, renting the same house they had rented the previous year.
In February, they found a home they purchased very close to the neighborhood. It had a rental history and since they were continuing to work at the lodge during the summers, they set up the home as a rental. It was wonderful, they were nearby and had family here, many friends in the neighborhood, and seemed happy with their arrangements.
Suddenly, after my brother had a golf trip to Orlando in March, he returned and had stated firmly he would never live in FL. However, that Fall when they returned in October, they made a trip to Florida. Abruptly, my brother was excited about buying a lot and would be building a home. There seemed to be no excitement in my sister in law, and whenever asked about this change, she would shrug and say it was ok. They were building a home in an over 55 community, and he remained excited about it, while she remained nonchalant. It was kind of sad.
When they returned from Alaska in the Fall of the following year, their house was completed. Their residency changed. Now, more family members from her side of the family had moved to the area. That much more reason to stay in this area to my mind. Jim had given notice at the lodge they had worked at for several years. Although he was the head pilot, there was a lot of lifting of propane tanks, making sure the plane was balanced and it involved a lot of physical work that was beginning to catch up with him. So he had given notice, and thought he would not be going back to Alaska.
During the winter, a lodge he had worked at for several years about thirteen years previously, offered him a position. There would be no lifting, not bringing in food supplies, equipment and propane so he agreed to return for the summer. So he left the end of May and my sister in law stayed in FL with their dog and learned just how stifling HOT FL is in the summer. She made a couple of trips up and would stay at my home as the home they had here was rented during the summers. She would go see her sisters and family in VA for a couple days, then return here.
Certainly, all the neighbors here were delighted to see her again. I would ask if she had made any friends down there, gotten involved in any activities–and the answer was no. She tried a few things in the community, and has social as she is, just did not feel as though she fit in.
Meanwhile, I was praying for their return here. And, I was always more saddened to spend a week there is the winter, as they did not have the friendships and sense of community they had here. And it certainly showed with my sister in law. He was settling in during the winters and seemed fairly happy. Although, as often as he played golf, he never played with the same people–friendships were not be developed. He seemed far more content with the area than she, although she never uttered a complaint I heard. So, to my friends here, I told them how I prayed for them to return here–that area did not seem to fit them. And the others who had visited felt the same, The community did not seem to be suited to their personalities.
Anyway, the plan was they would come up the end of September, take all their belongings out of the house here, and put it up for sale. ‘OK, God, I guess my prayers were for my selfish reasons, and FL is the better for them.’ It still did not feel right to me, but God knows better than I do.
The plan for his flying this past summer was to go for a reduced season. He flew out in July and returned mid September. They arrived back on the island the end of September, with every intention of taking all their belongings and putting the rental here up for sale. And while sitting on their deck, enjoying the temperature and the view of the ocean, she said, “I never get tired of this view.”
And he said, “If you don’t want FL there is nothing saying we have to stay there. We tried, it wasn’t what we expected. We can move back here, and sell that.” (A headache I assure you as there they had brand new furniture which was too large to fit into this home, and other issues, but YES! moving back here).
When I learned it, I was shocked, stunned. I had finally given up praying for their return as it apparently was not God’s will but MINE, and I tried to be happily resigned, and things turned around. Persistent prayer.
You and I have chatted about how happy I am–all the neighbors are–about this change in their plans, Lord. But certainly, I have seen that things can change when all seems hopeless with persistent prayer. Thank You. Again, when I was feeling deflated, You stepped in and answered my prayers. Thank You for always taking care of me and ‘mybellaviews.’
He responded that if she did not want to see this house, they could sell in the FL home and live here.
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