Remember That You Prayed

I had the opportunity to teach at our Bible Study on prayer, and as usual, it was a sweet time to remember the Lord’s faithfulness to His word. During the discussion, someone asked a great question: Are there any times in particular that I can remember where God answered a prayer of mine? If our God hears prayer (Psalm 65:2) and our God answers prayer (1 John 5:15) and then I pray, I should be able to recall when God answers my prayer. Whereas there are some really special examples of God answering my prayers, as I considered the question, I didn’t immediately give those examples.

We are often looking for the extraordinary when we pray, and in some ways that’s appropriate. Our God is a big God and can handle big prayers (Eph 3:20). We pray for nations to be reached. We pray for governments and presidents and kings and dictators to be humbled. We pray for sicknesses and sorrows, heaviness and healing. We pray that God would take the spiritually dead and raise them to new life. We ask God to do extraordinary things. And He does!

But so often, I forget about the other things that I pray for. The smaller things. The things that God does on such a routine basis, that I often don’t even realize that He is faithfully answering prayer. Each time I say, “No”, to sin, God is answering prayer. Each time I say, “Yes”, to righteousness, God is answering prayer. Each time I am patient, or kind, or loving. Each time I am more like Christ, God is answering prayer. When I am slow to speak and quick to listen, when I am bold in the gospel, God is answering prayer.

We are so prone to forget that we have prayed! We pray for God to make us more like Christ, or protect us, or any number of things, yet when the answer comes we chalk it up to coincidence, or even worse, we believe that we had something to do with it. Brothers and sisters, let us resolve to remember. Remember that we have prayed! Don’t be filled with self-confidence, be filled with praise. Don’t be fatalistic and superstitious like the lost world, but thank the God who hears prayer. God does the extraordinary, no doubt. But don’t forget, God accomplishes the everyday, ordinary wonders in response to your prayers. Let us pray and worship our God.