(Un)Answered Prayers

I haven't posted for an entire month. I guess I've been trying to pull myself back together after all the funerals. And while I usually write to deal with things, it didn't happen this time. We've been busy though. Since I posted I was called as the second counselor in our Relief Society (our church's women's organization), so that's had me way more busy than teaching Primary (children's organization) every other week :)

One thing that has nearly overwhelmed my thoughts since the last time I posted was the subject of prayer. I've never considered myself an above-average public, out loud pray-er. While my paternal grandfather could orate for hours (literally, I'm sure it's been done), and both of my parents have this quality----as evidenced by their prayer pads (gardening knee pads) that they have conveniently stored under their designated family prayer couch. I likely have the genes for it, but somehow I freeze up whenever it's my turn in class or (gasp!) Sacrament meeting. Words tumble, random and generic things come out of my mouth somehow twisted from their traditional usage. Does everyone feel this way? I regularly speak at church services for almost an hour without blinking an eye, but giving the prayer gives me instant cotton mouth. Probably I just need more practice.

Anyway, public prayer hasn't really been on my mind. It's more the personal kind of prayer. Three or four weeks ago in Primary my teaching partner, Bethany, gave a lesson on prayer. She asked class members to share examples from their lives where their prayers have been answered. I thought about what my example could be. I think I have prayed every single day of my life to find something that I have lost: shoes, keys, library books, my hair brush, my children (totally kidding), my mind (only kind of kidding). Really, I think I pray daily to find misplaced objects---and I usually find them quickly after the prayer, regardless of time spent searching prior to the prayer.

I pray for comfort, for the guidance of the Spirit, for healing, for health, for peace, for safety, for direction while driving, for my children, for my husband, for my parents and siblings and grandparents; my list could go on and on. And time after time my prayers have been answered.

I shared one specific dramatic answer to prayer with my Primary class. And I've thought about it over and over since that time. I don't know that I've had a more dramatic answer to prayer ever. I want to share it, not to boast of how great I am to have my prayer answered, but just to say how great God is. If ever I wonder if prayers are answered, I go back to this moment and get the resounding answer: Yes.

In a nutshell: I was 21 and set to go on a date with a boy. For a lot of reasons, it was important to me to be the one driving the two of us to and from the date. I requested that of him, and he thought I was being silly, that boys always drove on dates. So over lunch that afternoon my Mom and I prayed that things would work out and we would be safe. Probably within 30 minutes I got a call from him, and he said that he had a flat tire. The spare was also flat, and it looked like I'd have to drive. As I pulled up to pick him up on the side of the road I couldn't believe what I saw. The tire was not just flat---it was non-existent. It had literally blown off of the truck. Shreds of tire, none bigger than the size of my hand, were all along the roadside. He just kept saying, "I just don't see why this had to happen today."

Well, I knew why it happened. I drove and everything was fine. Maybe everything would have been even if he drove. We'll never know. And that's not the point. The important part to me was that my prayer was answered. Dramatically answered. And I have relied on that knowledge a lot.

One other thing that has got me thinking is unanswered prayers. I, for one, totally love the Garth Brooks song Unanswered Prayers. So many of the blessings in my life are products of unanswered prayers. I miscarried months before becoming pregnant with each of my children. Oh, how I prayed for those pregnancies to work out---but what if they had? I wouldn't have the children that I do have now. We prayed to get into dental school before Claire was born---what if that had turned out? I wouldn't have the friends I have now. We wouldn't live where we do now. We wouldn't be in the ward that we love so much.

Sometimes I pout when things don't go the way I planned or the way I wanted. I get upset when things seem unfair and unbearable---and sometimes it takes a long time for me to see past those things, but when I do I think of the found keys, the tire exploding, and of the sweet blessings that are mine because of unanswered prayers, and I do know that God is mindful and ever-present and always answering my prayers.




*Tire picture by Larry Page (not the actual tire from that day)
*Hands picture by Katie Tegtmeyer