He Heard My Cry

How has God answered your prayers?

Hello guys, this is Gabi! I am here again for this chat and I want to say something we know but it is never surpassed to repeat: God is good!

Since my conversion 7 years ago, I have lived more and more with Christian people. It’s where I want to be, it’s what I want to talk about and it’s how I want to live. I have already missed many years of my life with temporary things. Each day, I feel that I am late and that I need to seek and know a little more about this incredible guy, called Jesus, who died for me and for you to allow us an eternal life with Him. I read many Christian books, read the Bible, and try to be as long as possible in His presence in prayer.

There were always many women and men of God who prayed beautifully in the different services I attended. It were prayers that made me reflect and I were able to connect with God and I wondered: how could they pray like that? How could the words simply flow from his lips with such security and intimacy and in front of so many people?

I prayed alone. I spent a lot of time in prayer alone in my room with the Lord, but you couldn’t asked me to pray in front of others or to others !!! Then, at some point, it started to bother me. How could I be a Christian who was not even able to pray to a group or even to a person when they asked me to? My hands were sweating, my mouth was dry, my mind was emptied with every attempt. I was frustrated and blamed myself for it.
I knew that God was with me, I knew He already answered my prayers. Right at the beginning of my conversion I had some beautiful and sweet experiences of answers to my prayers.

I began to feel a great need to pray for other people. Their faces began to appear in my mind and my heart weighed for their lives. It took me a while to realize that God wanted me to pray for them.

Charles Stanley called it “prayer burdens,” in his book “In God’s Hands”. That’s when I started crying out for other lives, mostly people I did not know much about. As time went on, I knew that those people had really been through some difficulty and that they had been overcome. It all began to build my faith too much.
Along the way there were many unanswered prayers. Then, I began to understand that God did not just want to answer my prayers, His greatest desire was to reveal Himself to me. He did not want just attend the requests of a spoiled girl, but He wanted to teach me to depend on Him and know that He would always be the same, doing or not what I was asking for.

During that time, I was able to learn about Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Faith was essential, because “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is， and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him “(Hebrews 11: 6).
So I began to think: I have faith! Check !  Let’s see what else is needed … But Daddy wanted  to teach me what it is to live by faith! Then the trials came. Many tears, much desire to give up things that I knew would displease God, many temptations came and I wanted to drag me to a path with no return. I was depressed, angry, felt wronged, bitter, unhappy. When these things start to happen, the devil comes and begins to fill your mind with lies, he never misses the chance! But even during the most difficult times I could always feel that God was taking care of me.

Little by little, things began to calm down and I cried out to God for peace, for patience, for discernment, for self-control, for love!

Yes! I resisted evil and he fled from me! I did not accept those defeats in my life and I did not allow myself to give up! God taught me to go through trials and persist. He was always with me and taught me a little more about faith. The tribulations strengthened me, made me more humble and patient. I know that I still have many things to improve, but I also know that He who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1: 6)

But how about unanswered prayers?

James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” V. 8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you! Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded ”

If sin is what separates us from God, how can I approach Him with unconfessed sins? As I prayed, I asked God to probe my heart and show me what was displeasing Him. There is not a single day that I need not beg forgiveness for my iniquities. Then I pray to him as David also prayed: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

I began to ask that my will could be aligned with His will. May my desire could be His desire and His desire could be mine. I began to ask He would help me to be able to seek His Kingdom first, I also asked that I would be able to love Him above all things and that I might have the love of Christ in my heart for other people’s lives.
I stopped looking around and at the circumstances and looked up. I began to thank and magnify His name and then I could understand what it means “and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

I discovered in the midst of difficulties I should pray, in joy I should pray, in need and losses I should pray, pray, pray and pray without ceasing!
Then, one day “the prayer burdens” came back. I began to feel a terrible distress for a friend who also lives in China. But I had not seen or talked to her in over a year. I had no idea what might be going on in her life, but I could not stop feeling what I was feeling and started praying. I prayed for months for her life and for her family without having any idea how she was. I asked some prayer partners to help me intercede for their life. I realized that my partners thought I was a little crazy, but they prayed with me! One day I decided to send her a message asking if everything was okay and I said that I was praying for her. But nothing special had happened. Then, after our summer vacation, when we returned with our activities, during a day in our prayer meeting, I began to talk about how much it was necessary for us to pray for each other. That’s when a friend said:

– Yeah, we never know what might happen. Like what happened to our friend we prayed for during the last semester!
– What??? What happened to our friend?
– She was in Bali during the earthquake! It was horrible! They felt everything! People ran desperate, other people died, places were destroyed, but they are fine!

My first thought was: wowwwww! How much God loves her!!!! He put me on my knees for months because He wanted to act and save her life!

But after all, is that not what He always wants, to save us? Is not His will to act in our favor? Love, is not exactly what He is? Such a beautiful and perfect love that surpasses all our understanding! Such a great and untiring love for His lost children!

All He wants is to relate to us! He gave us the method: prayer! He gave us the mediator: Jesus! He gave us the helper: the Holy Spirit! Not only to ask and be blessed, but to speak to Him face to face, to praise Him, to be intimate and to know Him truly!

Oh, I almost forgot … How about praying for someone or in a group?

God has brought this word to my heart:

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)

I remained in the Father, His words remained in me, but I had never asked to be able to pray!

I began to cry out for this and then He said to me:
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24).

We also have to take action! We have to use what He teaches us! Practice! Live an obedient life, be faithful!  Is it simple? Yes!  Is it easy? Nope!

But for all situations we can look at the master. He went through terrible things for us and overcame every obstacle! He taught us everything we needed to live a life that pleases God! He said that He would always be with us until the end of the world and He also said He would not give us a burden bigger than we could bear.

How has God answered my prayers? According to His perfect will which is the best for me and for the perfect fulfillment of His plans in my life. That’s how He always does! That is all I want!