“ When God says yes to your prayers...

She said “Oh my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord.”... “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.”... “So I have also dedicated him to the LORD, as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD” and they worshiped the LORD there.” 1 Samuel 1:26-28 When the Lord says ‘No’ to our prayers, we learn.

We may get disappointed yet our spiritual senses are high! Though a negative answer from the Lord may bear the same quality of a positive answer, which is for His glory and for our great good, the spiritual terrain is not the same.

When God says ‘No’, our journey of faith becomes stony. When God says ‘yes’, our journey of faith becomes slippery! It is when God approves our petition that we need God more!

Some time ago, Hannah stood, a powerless woman praying; then later, she stood, a thankful woman returning to God what she had promised. Take note, Hannah made a promise out of her deeper communion with God and not just out of impulse. How do we know that? She came back and fulfilled her vows!

Between the praying and the returning to bring back what was promised to God is a very slippery journey of faith. Anyone can always change heart and mind. Hannah did not! Remember the 10 lepers Jesus cleansed as recorded in the gospel of Luke 17:11-20? Out of the 10 lepers, only one returned and gave thanks!

Read on, there is a lesson here that we all need to chew, slowly, that it may ingest well into our spiritual system.

Here is the lesson: The Blessing which was once a burden has now become your test of INTERGRITY! The answered prayer is now your test of spiritual maturity. God’s ‘yes’ to our prayers is a timely revelation of our spirituality.

Spiritual authenticity is tested by our reactions to circumstances rather than our actions. Actions are planned; reactions are authentic revelations of spirituality. As for Hannah, she passed the test she came back and returned Samuel to the Lord. Why did Hannah do what she did and why did the one leper return while the other nine did not? Between Hannah and the Samaritan leper who returned to thank Jesus, we discover these common revelations of their spirituality.

Their focus, even during their crisis, was God. It could also be said that their crisis helped them see God better and not lose sight of the Almighty. Their faith was anchored on God. That is why, when the most awaited request was positively answered, their spiritual eyes turned to God more than the blessings of God.

Make no mistake about it, God is not offended when we enjoy His blessings without guilt. He designed it that way, blessings are to be enjoyed! The deeper issue here is not the enjoyment, it is the fixation or addiction to the blessing rather than seeking God deeper. The blessing is not an end in itself, it is an invitation to relate and rely on God even more! In this slippery journey, many of us end up so attached to blessings rather than being so in love with God! I think you get the point by now. I don’t want to overload you with more lest we all spiritualize these insights rather than be spiritually transformed.

Before I lift my fingers from the keyboard of my gadget, I invite you to pause and pray. This time, do not spend time requesting, you already got what you asked for. This time, spend time reflecting and relating to God, for He is more than what you have asked for. May our reflection lead to humble repentance and to a resolute returning to God’s house, this time to give thanks, to fulfil a vow, to focus more on God and not on the gifts. Believe me; the more you focus on the Giver, the more you fully enjoy His gifts as He always wanted you to do.

Thanks for reading. I always write from my heart. This time, I write of a heart that is being redirected to God again.