Does God answer prayers?
It seems sometimes that God doesn’t answer prayers. Have you ever begged Him for something, and I don’t mean something small, and there was no response?
I did. I begged God to heal my daughter. I knew for a fact that the tumor they had found in my 6-month old wouldn’t be there when they scanned one last time before the surgery to remove her eye. I sat and waited for them to walk into the room and tell me the surgery had been canceled. After all, God had said if I had the faith of a mustard seed I could move mountains. I was believing Him for this. I knew the healing had already come.
Instead of minutes, I waited for hours. Each breath became harder until the nurse walked in and said, “Everything went perfectly. The surgery is complete and your baby is waiting for you in recovery.” The room spun and I hit the floor hard.
God had not answered my prayer. Or had he?
God’s love is not dependent on our faith. Those mountains don’t move because of the faith I possess. I had clung to a false promise and my trust in God collapsed. I still don’t fully understand the mustard seed verse. It comes from a story in Matthew 17 when the disciples are unable to heal a boy who is possessed by a demon.
Perhaps the answer is found in Luke 17 where again Jesus mentions a mustard seed. The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. In response, he says if they have the faith of a mustard seed they could tell a mulberry tree to replant itself in the sea and it would obey. The disciples are essentially rebuked and asked if the master thanks the servant for doing only what he was told. Jesus is complicated at times. His words are hard to understand.
I’m left with the thought that the point is that it's impossible for me to have faith the size of a mustard seed on my own. There is so much mystery to God. So much I can’t understand when I am in the moment, especially in the painful moments.
It would take me over a year to understand that God did, in fact, answer my prayer that day. My daughter has remained cancer-free these last thirteen years, ever since the day of her surgery. God doesn’t always answer prayers the way we want Him to, and He never answers them based on the amount of our faith, but yes, God does answer prayers. More importantly, He never leaves our side and walks with us through those difficult seasons. He is patient with us as we ask the hard questions and dig our heels in when things don’t go our way. Regardless of where we stand, God never stops loving us.
At Centerpoint, we are breaking down every barrier that keeps people from the love of God. We don’t shy away from the hard questions. No matter where you are in your faith journey, you are welcome to join us.