“Sometimes The Answer Is No” Chapter 71

Have you ever prayed to God and wondered if he hears you? Has he ever answered your prayers? Has he ever not answered your prayers? When you pray and He answers your prayers, I’m sure you are grateful, but do you get mad at God when your prayers are not answered?

Or maybe you don’t believe there’s a God in the first place. Looking around, you see death, hate, crime, disease, etc and wonder how could there be? I get it, and you may have a point. For me, though, God has been answering my prayers all my life... I just didn’t always see it. As I wrote in chapter 21, my relationship with God hasn’t always been great, but it gets better every day. So if I didn’t have a relationship with God, then how do I know He’s answering my prayers?

Let me give you some examples.

Before I met Laura I knew I wanted to be a father, but it wasn’t meant to be. The night I met Laura, she was locked out of her military housing and I was the MP who saved the day. She looked at me with her beautiful eyes and immediately fell in love. The first unofficial question I ever asked her was “Can you still have babies?” My prayers were answered when we were married and I became a step father, and then again when our children were born.

Early in our marriage when money was tight and my credit was below bad, we loaded our four kids and our bags into the van and drove from Texas to California. I was being reassigned to Hawaii and we had to drop off my vehicle and also visit family while there. On our way, in the middle of the night, the van suddenly went from 70 to 35mph. Everyone was sleeping, it was winter, and I started to pray, asking God to find somewhere safe for the night.

We found a hotel and the next morning we found a diner by the hotel. I asked the waitress if there was a repair shop nearby and she told me everything was closed for the weekend. She then told us she had a friend 50 miles away who could help, so we packed up and headed out. I had no idea if the van would even turn over, let alone get us all there.

Once again, I said a prayer to get us there safely and fix the van. When I started it up, the van was fine and 70mph down the highway we went. At the repair shop we were told it was the timing belt, and it would cost $1,000 and two days to repair. We definitely didn’t have the money or time. The mechanic said, “you can go to the local dealer and try and trade it in.”

We drove off and once again I prayed. “God please let us find a new vehicle and get to California safely." Laura and I had been working on my credit, but hadn’t checked it in months. We didn’t have much to put down on a new vehicle either. Laura had worked in dealerships before, so as we drove up to the dealership she swung open the door with the van still moving, did a combat roll, jumped up to her feet screaming “Hoooorah," and was ready for battle. Our son Gabriel jumped up, eyes wide open, and said “Mom is a Power Ranger”. As I sat in the van with the kids, Laura came out after 15 minutes and informed me they wanted to drive the van to determine trade in value, and our credit was not only was good, but we could pick any vehicle on the lot. With my own eyes wide open, I looked at my son and said, “No son, mom is a Jedi”.

We drove off that day with good credit, a new van, and God kept watching over us all the way to California. I drove that van for the next 10 years.

Over the years, I have prayed for many things and put my prayers in Gods hands. Some prayers were for jobs, some for safe passage, and others for healing. How do I know what is the result of my prayers and what is just meant to be? I don’t know. For example, when I didn’t get a job, was my prayer unanswered? Or did God have another plan? I can tell you that I had a very successful career and I remain grateful for every job I got and those I didn’t get. When I prayed for a miracle of healing over someone and that person dies, was my prayer unanswered? Or was their prayer to die in peace answered?

Today I pray everyday for a cure to be found for ALS, and for the many people working to find one. Yesterday I read that the FDA just denied a drug for ALS that failed test protocols, and I wondered if the individuals working on the drug felt their prayers were unanswered, or feel that God has other plans?

Whether you believe in God or not, you have to agree something is watching over us and answering prayers and sometimes the answer is NO.

Love and Blessings.