In the beginning when we are new believers we often view a
silent period as God saying “no” to our request for
something. An answer we don’t recognize causes us to
sometimes doubt He is really present in our lives and
situations. It is only after time passes and God reveals the
lesson through the wait or the new and improved answer that
we are better able to see Him in all things and realize that
God never says “no” to us.
I have prayed many a prayer and have received many an
answer in my short walk. As I mature spiritually I have
found my prayers have changed and the things I ask for or
petition the Lord for are different than they were in the
beginning. As I draw closer to Christ and my life takes on a
more Christ like way I find myself seeking a higher quality
answer to the prayers I pray. What I am realizing is that
quality isn’t the issue but my maturity is moving me
straight into the path of His divine will for my life. I am
learning to pray for what HE delights in and in turn that
delight is embedded in my own heart as I walk in His way
more and more each day. “Delight in the Lord and He will
give you the desires of your heart” - Psalms 37:4 It
is when we truly and sincerely learn to delight in Him that
he puts the desires in our hearts and then sets out to
fulfill them through our faith and devotion to Him.
About the third year into my walk and after I had received
the “entrance miracle” or the miracle that started my
Christian walk I started to sincerely pray for the salvation
of my family members as well as other things. My prayers
were for my earthly father whom I love more than water. He
is and has always been my best friend and has given me the
beautiful gift of wonderful childhood memories that any
daddy’s girl would envy. In other words, he and my mom did a
great job as parents and I love them very much but there
will always be a special place in my heart for my dad. My
parents will celebrate there 36th year of
marriage in April 2024 and are the only parents I know of in
my circle that are still married. I am proud of them and
grateful for the values they instilled.
As I lay in bed one evening saying my prayers my father
came to mind with such force it brought tears to my eyes. My
father was a heavy smoker and could easily put down three
packs of Marlboro a day without blinking an eye. His busy
towing business provided the stress needed to be a chain
smoker and at times, a pretty grumpy guy. To put in mildly,
he was becoming unbearable to the rest of the family. His
short temper and lack of time for anything but work were
taking their toll on the rest of us and although she never
said anything to us, I’m sure my mom was feeling the effect.
Dad was basically being a tyrant and smoking himself to
death in the process. The urge to pray for him fell on my
heart so heavily.
“Lord” I prayed. “I know if dad died tonight he wouldn’t go
to heaven as he doesn’t know You, please Father…please
soften his heart and send heavenly messengers across his
path to guide him to you.”, I couldn’t bare the thought of
going to heaven and my dad not being there. I also prayed
that God would help my dad stop smoking. Only an act of God
would stop him so I was in the right place. I left my dad at
the gates of heaven and believed God would handle it. I was
not prepared for what came next.
As God brings us to new levels of faith we will sometimes
find ourselves back in the wilderness we started in. It is
through these spiritual growth spurts that we will mature
and draw closer to Him. These spiritual growth spurts are a
test of strength and faith and often leave us feeling alone
and helpless. It isn’t until we have hung on by a thread and
slowly pulled ourselves back up, clinging to His robes that
we realize that we have just been blessed with a promotion.
Over the past three years my father had been involved in a
group that had joined forces in order to expose corruption
in one of our local police departments. This project would
prove to be a nightmare for our family and would also be the
launching pad for numerous miracles in my life and that of
my family. The effects on life when good meets evil is
indescribable and should only be attempted with a pocket
full of money, never ending prayer and at least 300 people
totally dedicated to your cause. My involvement in this
situation was to design a web site for this group of people
to place their information on. I proceeded with prayer and
as a result met my husband. I then backed away. My dad on
the other hand, had been wronged by the corrupt individuals
and as time passed his actions were fueled by hate and
resentment. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
To make a very long story very short I can only say that
this situation was one of those that God uses to bring good
out of bad. Although the way He did it didn’t seem so at
first. I prayed and prayed for my dad to come to know The
Lord and I can look back and see many times where God tapped
him on his shoulder and dad just kept moving forward with
his mission to put these corrupt individuals away no matter
what the cost. Then God stepped in and answered the prayer.
In the month of January 2024, my father was arrested and
was not permitted to bond out of jail. This is unheard of
for what he was charged with. Secondly, the judge that would
have let him out of jail was taken off the case and a judge
reputed to be the worst on the bench was assigned to the
case. Our family was devastated. Dad was gone, his business
was going under, my mother was alone, they were losing their
home, it was just plain horrible. All of these bad things
were orchestrated by corrupt police officials. Where was
God? When was He going to deliver us? I had just finished
preaching to my dad about the value and benefits of faith.
He was never going to believe after this and his first words
when I told him it was during the worst times that he had to
have the most faith were “Yea, right”. This was bad.
It is a state law that smoking is not permitted in county
buildings including the jail. Prayer number one answered. My
father quit smoking. Within weeks we could hear the
difference in his breathing and even his skin color returned
to a normal peachy olive tone that most Italians have.
Our lawyers tried every legal maneuver available to no
avail. This judge was not budging. My father was staying in
jail. Bad Cop or God? It is so easy to blame the flesh when
things look bad to the eye. Looking back, I choose not to
give the bad cop the glory for these events. I praise God
for what He was doing in my father. My dad was so full of
anger and rage. At times he would call from the jail and one
by one our family members would hang up feeling stressed and
resentful. His hate was contagious. I prayed God would
soften his heart and open his eyes. I also prayed for our
own protection. Little by little my dad started to soften.
His focus was starting to shift from the bad cops to
himself. My mom and I started to minister to him and share
Godly things…he was listening. Seven months after my father
was incarcerated it was obvious that no matter what happened
he was at peace knowing he was not alone. He had found The
Lord. One day he called me and in an un-Christian like way I
let slip a curse word (one of my thorns) and he scolded me
with, “Please don’t use that kind of language, I don’t swear
anymore…the Lord doesn’t like it”. Prayer number
two…answered. My father had FINALLY come to know the Lord!
My father had accepted salvation.
Who would have ever thought that these horrible
circumstances would result in the answer to two major
prayers? There is NO greater blessing than the blessing of
salvation for us and our loved ones. THIS is the ultimate
answer to prayer. A non-believer would find a way to
discredit the situation but we as followers of Christ know
better. My dad recently went to trial for what he was
charged with and ironically, the jury returned an
inconsistent verdict. Our lawyers say they have never seen
such a thing. Apparently God is not finished there. I
always knew my father would be a great laborer for God’s
Kingdom and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has planned
for him. As each day passes he grows more and more like
Christ. One need only talk to him to know it. Is there any
better answer?
If you prayed and asked God to lead your husband, wife,
fiancé’, or other loved one to salvation and the Lord said
to you “I will give you your answer because I wish all men
to be saved but I need to take him/her away for a short
time” would you accept that and be at peace knowing God was
answering? Just because things don’t unfold the way you
expect doesn’t mean God isn’t answering, it simply means you
have to trust the way He has chosen to manifest that answer.
The next time you say a prayer and the complete opposite
happens don’t give up. Sometimes God has to bring it right
down to nothing in order to bless you with the most
incredible answer and it is by having faith when things look
darkest that you will grow and be blessed beyond your
wildest imagination. God never says “No”. What he does say
is wait and sometimes “I have something MUCH better for
you”. This promotion requires a new level of trust and faith
you just have to simply believe!
