Salvation Summaries

An answer to prayer is an encouragement to believers, for it provides evidence of God’s work in someone’s life (and to be honest, it surprises us to some extent as many of our prayers seem to go unanswered). To unbelievers and skeptics, an “answer to prayer” is something a naive and deceived person may think, but in reality, God (if He even exists) doesn’t answer prayer.

I want to tell you about at least a partial answer to prayer I received from a godly man. I say “partial” because the prayer was for improvement in my health, and while it clearly improved, I was not completely healed. However, that should come as no surprise, for answers don’t always take place in the way we expect them to.

In my case, the answer came in an unusual setting – a dentist office. The dental assistant had just completed my semi-annual cleaning when the dentist, David, came in to check her work. I’ve known this dentist on an acquaintance level for many years, so he knew of my ongoing health problems from prior visits. At this cleaning, he asked for an update on my health, and I relayed that it was about the same, with fatigue my main problem. 

He then asked if it would be OK if he prayed for me, and I mistakenly replied, “It’s up to you”, which prompted a disappointing, “no…” from him, and led to my revised response of, “We can always use prayer.” 

David then grabbed my hand and prayed for me in front of his dental assistant, and within earshot of other employees. His prayer wasn’t filled with religious jargon to impress; rather, it was casual, as if he was just having another talk with God. After he prayed, I thanked him of course.  

So, what happened? Well, David prayed for me on Wednesday morning. The next day, a change took place – I didn’t need to lay down in the afternoon from my fatigue. For roughly four years now, I’ve had to lay down nearly every day (I can count on one hand the number of days I’ve not had to), and generally several times per day, due to this. In addition, on Wednesday night I had had only four hours of sleep (insomnia is another problem of mine), which was worse than normal, and would have made me extra tired on Thursday.  

On Friday, the same thing happened – I didn’t need to lay down.

On Saturday, I made it all day until 6 pm, when I briefly rested, and it raised a question in my mind as to whether the answer to his prayer was running out of steam.

But then on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I still didn’t have to lay down, so clearly, God was doing a work in my health. 

Now, some of you might be asking, “Well, did you change anything else that might have caused this?” The answer is no. I didn’t change the supplements I had been taking. I didn’t change my diet. I wasn’t getting more sleep. I wasn’t exercising more or less (I wasn’t exercising at all). My stress level hadn’t changed. Nothing. The only change in my life at that time was his prayer, and God answered it, at least to some extent. 

I’m not completely healed of course, as I still get tired during the afternoon, but not to the point where I have to rest. Also, I have other symptoms that have not improved, at least not yet.

However, in looking back, David didn’t specifically ask God to heal all of my symptoms, but rather to give me “a reprieve of them” so I could run again. So, I guess technically, his prayer was mostly answered in that my fatigue has lessened, giving me more energy, though I’m not healed enough to be able to run (though maybe that comes next?).

So, I am excited and thankful that God answered this particular prayer, but in my weak faith, it raises a number of questions. How long will it last? If it ends in a week or two, was it really an answer to prayer? Why didn’t God heal all of me? Also, why did God answer this prayer but not the many prayers I and my wife and my brothers (and others) have prayed for my health in recent years? Was this answer simply for health reasons or something more? Was it meant to encourage me and strengthen me in my faith? Was it meant to be shared with other believers as a way to encourage them in their faith? These are questions I wish I knew the answers to.

Still, we can learn from this experience. Here are the takeaways that came to mind:

• Don’t give up on prayer. A condition can last for years without any answers taking place. Regarding my health, I’ve only had two or three answers to prayer (that I’m aware of) in the past four years.
• The Bible says the prayer of a righteous person (can be or) is powerful and effective.  My dentist David is obviously a righteous man.  Seek to become more and more righteous/blameless, and maybe more of your prayers will be answered.
• A prayer does not need to be filled with religious jargon to impress others. Rather, it can simply be a casual conversation with God.
• God can and does answer at least some of our prayers, but not always in ways we expect Him to.
• When God answers your prayer, even if it’s only a partial answer, thank Him for it and tell others about it to encourage them in their faith. We live in ungodly and trying times; we could use all the encouragement we can get!
• We need to understand that there are some prayers that God may not answer for a long time, if at all. God may allow us to go through suffering instead. I’ve not been healed in more than four years, but many others are in a far worse situation than I am. A friend of mine’s wife has early Alzheimer’s and her condition continues to deteriorate despite many prayers on her behalf for her situation to stabilize or improve. My mother has Alzheimer’s/dementia and despite many prayers for her by my brothers and me (and others), her condition has worsened. Another friend’s husband died of cancer leaving her a widow; many prayers for his physical healing were not answered as expected. We may never understand on this earth why God didn’t answer these prayers in the way others had expected, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t care. We know He does, and that He is good. So keep praying fellow believer, and trust Him!