Answered prayer

 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly* above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 
                
Ephesians 3:20-21

  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16                                                                                      

​6 Be careful for nothing; but in every  thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

•  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
   Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. Psalms 37:4-5
  
  Matthew 7: 7-11 
  7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
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 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.        
  John15:7                                                                                        

  I was thinking about answered prayers, and how they don't always look like  we think they should.
​ If we pray for something specific and it does not happen the way we prayed, then we can sometimes get the feeling that those prayers went unanswered.
   I know though that God hears and answers all our prayers. He loves His children and cares about our needs.  But His answers may not always be what we want, when we want, or how we want. Instead He does even better! He gives us what is best for us and it is often way more above and beyond what we could possibly ask. Though for a time it may seem like unanswered prayer.
 
 Why I thought of this just today, is because I was thinking of 2 prayers of mine that nearly seemed to me to be unanswered prayers. When I gave it a bit more thought though, I knew it was'nt that they were not answered, it just that it wasn't the way I wanted or when I wanted.
 The one prayer was for God to send people to our Christian Library. I had felt on my heart over a year ago to start a little library here on our place with all of our great Christian books we have. And so we did. We got this little portable building from my mom and dad, gave it a  few coats of purple paint. Painted in large letters on the front of it, Renfroe's Christian Library. Put a sign out at the end of our drive way, as well as poster down where we get our mail in our little community, and on face book, etc... And then waited expectantly for people to come check out our Library and burrow a book! Tine went by and no body came. More time went by and still nobody. Now over a year later still no one regularly coming. We have had  couple of our friends and and few neighbors in all that time, but that is it. I keep praying, and praying. And i try to be patience, I really do. Now we are in the process of building a new Library building, one that is winterized and that we can heat. Last winter I just packed up the books and brought them in the house for the winter. I look forward to getting in finished and moving our books over to the our new building! But it would be nice to have some people coming by to get books. I will keep praying!
  The next prayer was for many ladies to come to the Ladies Retreat I am planning. A couple months after the loss of our son Clayton, I was praying and thinking about other families we had heard about who had also experienced the tragic loss of a child, and I felt on my heart to organize a ladies retreat for these moms and ladies. So I started praying about it. And planning. And praying for a speaker. And I found one very quickly who fit the description I prayed for. And I got excited seeing God at work in this. And I continued to make plans and find a good location, and kept praying for God's guidance and direction. And stared putting the word out in every way I could think of. And prayed for God to send the ladies who would be blessed by this event. But now here we are with less than 4 months to go, and have no one registered and no one even saying they will go. And I did not mention I had several changes I had to make since I have been planning this. So it is easy to feel like just giving up. But I will keep praying!

 I will keep praying and trusting my Father that He has a plan I don't see. I will trust Him that He knows best. After-all I am confident He was the one who put these ideas on my heart. So Hes got this.
   Our prayers are never unanswered!
​In Him, Mae