He Answers Prayer

Last week I referenced the story in Genesis 24 in which Abraham had sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac and bring her to Canaan.  The servant, we are not told his name, wonders if she will not come to Canaan, if he should take Isaac there - Abraham tells him no.  He explains that he has prayed that God send an angel before him to make the choice simpler.  Once the servant made the trip with his ten camels, he climbed down and began to pray.  He proposed that he would ask one of the women for water, and if she also offered to water his camels, that she would be the one, the wife for Isaac.  I was struck by verse 15. “Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.”  This prayer was answered before he had finished praying.    

In this week’s study we learned that Isaac and Rebekah struggled to conceive a child. Verse 21 states, “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.”  We can easily calculate from verses 20 and 26 that twenty years, yes twenty years, passed between the two sentences in verse 21.  We also know that Isaac’s father and mother waited and prayed for MANY years before he was conceived.

Sometimes the Lord answers our prayers immediately, sometimes His answer is wait, and sometimes His answer is no.  I’ve said this many times and personally I have experienced all three responses.  Currently, I am waiting on the answer to two prayers.  I don’t think they are related, but they could be, only the Lord knows!  Waiting is hard and I begin to wonder how I should proceed.  I know that faith without works is dead, so I am not waiting in paralysis, but waiting and continuing to do the work He has called me to do.  I am waiting and seeking the answer to my prayers.  

In February 2019, I was out walking, thinking, and praying, and I realized that I might need to consider purchasing another car as my son would try for his permit that summer.  At the time I was driving a nearly 20 year-old car, that embarrassed him, and I thought a new driver might need some more modern safety features.  I continued walking and I quickly decided that I would purchase a Honda CR-V for him.  I thought a 2010 or 2011 would be modern enough and would probably not break my budget.  I continued walking, thinking and praying.  My former neighbor who used to work for Honda, popped into my mind, that I should reach out to him to see if he still worked there and if he might have such a vehicle in stock.  While walking, I texted him.  He called me immediately.  I told him what I was looking for, and added that I wanted white or silver, and told him it was no hurry.  His response, “What?  ‘10 or ‘11, white or silver?  I ain’t gonna find that!  And you want low miles?  You need to expand the years or the colors or something, I’m not gonna find that!”  I thanked him and assured him I was in no hurry.  

At home, I went online to search for the car, but did not see what I wanted.  On that Monday I went to the credit union to work out the financing for the car I had not found.  It became almost impulsive that I would look online for the right car.  I said it wasn’t a hurry, but I acted as if it were urgent.  I began to see car ads on my Facebook.  In May, on Mother’s Day, I was sitting on the couch and I heard a voice say in my right ear, “Where are you going to park it?”  Startled, I thought, oh, I guess I need to sell this old car!  Immediately, I took the vacuum cleaner outside and cleaned that old car up and parked it with a for sale sign on it.  It took about two weeks, but it sold!  I prayed again, “Lord, I did it, now what?”  I heard no response - which means wait.  My friend at Honda would check with me periodically to be sure I hadn’t found the vehicle elsewhere, but I had not.  Finally, I told him that I no longer wanted a silver vehicle, I wanted white, but it could be ‘10 or ‘11.  He was borderline furious. 

By July I was getting antsy.  My son had his permit and I was teaching him to drive in the vehicle I depended on and didn’t feel comfortable doing so.  I began to lose hope that I would find the ‘10 or ‘11 Honda CR-V.  The bank would call every month or so to ask if I had found a car or to tell me my approval had expired and I would need to apply for financing again.  I began to expand my search.  It no longer needed to be a Honda CR-V, it just needed to be a compact SUV, and white or silver were okay.  I couldn’t believe how elusive that desire was!  At the end of July, I found a 2009 white Toyota Rav-4 online and went to test drive it.  It drove well, had low miles, and I prayed to ask the Lord if this was the car, but He didn’t respond.  I called my husband, but he was fishing so he didn’t answer.  I called my dad and he didn’t answer.  I bought it.  I didn’t use the financing I had already worked out, but I let the dealership work out the financing. On that Monday I received a call from the dealership that the bank had rejected the paperwork and I would need to come back and bring $500 more towards the down payment and the payment would increase by about $200 per month.  I cried!  I called the bank and was advised to return the car to the dealership since they messed up the financing.  I couldn’t do that, too embarrassing!  Sure enough, that evening, my husband and I went to the dealership to return the vehicle.  I took the walk of shame.  

That Thursday the credit union called and asked if they could help me find a car since they had this outstanding loan!  I went and sat down with a loan officer who looked at some choice websites with me and we found a car north of Charlotte.  That evening, my husband and I drove 40 miles up to that dealership to test drive a 2010 Toyota Rav-4 with low miles.  I liked it - it wasn’t the car’s fault the other one didn’t work out.  I wanted to buy it, but my husband wanted to haggle over a scratch on the gas tank cover.  As we stood on the lot trying to decide if that scratch was too deep to be buffed out I received a text from my friend at Honda of Rock Hill.  It was a picture of a 2011 Honda CR-V with 86K miles that was in the process of being traded.  My heart skipped a beat.  That was my car.  The Lord answered my prayer on August 3.  I texted back - “That’s my car, do not let anyone get it.  Park it in the back with a sign on it.  I am coming!  Thank the Lord.”  

I could write an equal amount here about this very specific answer to prayer, like the fact that the car wasn’t a need but a want; like about how I got a raise that began on July 25 that was nearly equal to the car payment; like about the Carfax report on the car; like about how now my son has his own car I drive the Honda CR-V.  When I say He worked it out for my good, I just want to shout!  Today, have “submitted” to the Lord, a prayer that is a need, and I am waiting.  I am not worried.  I know He will answer.  I know that He knows this prayer has a deadline, not one that I set, but one that exists.  I know He is working it out for my good.  If you are a frequent reader of this message, be looking for a testimony - it is coming.  

I know I’m not the only one who is calling on the name of the Lord today.  I hope this week’s message gives you hope.  I prayed, then succumbed to my own desire and timeline, and bought something else.  He allowed me to make a fool of myself, but prevented the second lapse.  He answered my exact prayer with the exact person He told me to reach out to, who was also the exact person the owner would bring it to at the dealership.  Right now, I am so hopeful imagining how He is working out all of the intricacies of my current prayer right now, I can hardly wait to share the testimony.  AMEN!  

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
​~Romans 8:28


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​Stay tuned.  
He is working it out for your good, too!
​Kim

When you see this decal on the back of my Honda CR-V, please understand.