Sometimes God lets us see His answer before we see His answer – WHAAAT? I know it sounds impossible, but it’s not. I’ve not been able to do this with every prayer request, but on occasion God has told me His answer before I’ve seen His answer. The key is to develop the ability to recognize when God is giving us a sneak peek.
“Over time as I pray I can begin to see God moving in each situation, and although the answer has not yet come, I can catch a glimpse of God’s hand.” (Organizing Your Prayer Closet, p. 78)
From years of prayer journaling, I’ve truly become much more insightful with my prayer life. It has helped me to pay attention to what is going on around me in the spiritual realm, God’s realm.
“Periodically I go back through my [prayer closet] organizer entries and evaluate the progress in the situations I have recorded there. I am frequently amazed at how the circumstances are developing under God’s sovereign hand” (Organizing Your Prayer Closet, p. 77).
Now before you start to check out, thinking I’ve lost my mind or have veered way off into some sort of religious extreme, let me give you three simple scenarios of how God gave me a sneak peek to His answer.
1. He may show us through an action.
I helped my daughter, Kassie, see God’s answer before she realized it in the natural:
A few months ago, we took my grandsons to the movies one morning for a free movie. After we were seated, Kassie gasped, “Why is that boy here??? What’s he doing here??? Why isn’t he in school???” I looked up behind me, and sure enough there was a teenage boy slumped down in his seat, texting. The movie theatre was already dark, and he had his hood up over his head where you could barely see his face. I knew what she was thinking, and so do you. Unfortunately, we live in a world where movie theatres aren’t even safe anymore. So, I tried to calm her and said a prayer for God’s safety. I didn’t really feel threatened, but you never know…She was still in a state of alarm, until the boy got up and went down a few rows to sit with a group of women and their small children.
I pointed this out to her – he was with them – mystery solved. Just before the movie started, he got back up and went back to his seat behind us and sat down. Once again, Kassie became alarmed, asking, “Why is he sitting back there???” That is when I said, “Kassie, you wanted to know why he was here, and the Lord in His graciousness has shown you that he is with these people below. He is probably homeschooled. They’ve brought the younger kids here to watch the movie, but obviously, he doesn’t want to sit with them. God has solved the mystery, and in His grace He is trying to calm your mind and let you know that we are going to get out of here alive, and I want you to receive His grace!!!” At that, she exhaled, and said, “Okay, I will”.
We did make it out safely. My prayer was that we would be safe during the movie, and God showed me (and my daughter) that we would be okay before we actually experienced safely walking out of the movie theatre.
2. He may remind us of His faithfulness.
I once had a contract issue with one of my clients, and when I realized it I felt panicked. As I was praying about it, God reminded me of some key personnel with that client that I could trust to take care of the issue for me. At that moment, it was like God deposited some peace into my spirit and I knew everything was going to work out fine, and sure enough, it did.
Do you currently have a situation that you can survey to see if God is letting you know that everything will be okay?
“…as Deuteronomy 29:29 states, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God. The revealed things belong to us.” And so we take what is revealed to us and make good use of it in our prayers.” (Organizing Your Prayer Closet, p. 80).
3. He may speak to us by His Word.
If you have been following my blog or ever heard me speak then you know the story about the two little boys in foster care whom I fervently pray for regularly. One night while praying for their little minds to recover from the horrid things they have experienced at the hands of their parents, the Lord reminded that He is in the business of renewing minds. As a matter of fact, He is the only one that can renew minds – have you ever thought about that???
As I was wondering how in the world they will overcome the evil they have been subjected to, God spoke to me, and even though I have no way of knowing how their lives will turn out, I joyfully believe that God has given me His answer in advance. Thank you, Jesus!
Have you ever heard a word from God that assured you of His answer in advance?
“It is through prayer journaling that we tap into those unseen resources that can provide spiritual insight, peace and confidence.” (Organizing Your Prayer Closet, p. 78)
