This is NOT What I Prayed For

Have you ever asked God to intervene in your teen’s life at any cost?  Have you ever been desperate enough to give God choices to remedy the crisis?  When the answer came, were you prepared for how God handled it?

When I was in one of those situations, I prayed, by giving God two choices that I asked for thinking those requests would rectify the problem.  However, when the answer came, it was what I had asked, but way more than what I had planned, wanted or could handle.

In fact, the answer that I received was heartbreaking, devastating, scary, painful, and wishing that I had never prayed the prayer that I did.  I don’t think that I had ever cried so much or been so fearful of what was presented to me from that answer.

Little did I understand that what was in front of me was the beginning of many blessings to come.  You see, it came with multiple answers covering many areas that I had prayed about and longed for in regards to healing for our family, most specifically our teen.

During the next three months of that answer we saw lives changed, a greater faith in God, a future bright with hope, and an open wound for years finally being healed.

I firmly believed more than ever God’s word that says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11-12

Here I thought that my prayer request was to answer one thing. God’s plans were way bigger than I had imagined.  It wasn’t just to save my teen, but to save my entire family.  It humbled us as parents.  It made us face some hard truths that we didn’t want to see.  It caused us to reflect and repent about our way of parenting.

More than anything, it opened our teen to seeing the truth about her own life and where she was headed.  It answered some of the heavy questions about herself that she struggled to find.  She relied on God in a way that she has never done before in her life.

As time moved on, God spoke clearly to her through many events to show her how much He loved her.  Very specific prayers she prayed were being answered, one by one.  Those requests through a human’s eye that only saw the impossible, became possible with God.  She was excited to know that God really did hear her and cared about her immensely.

So when you pray for your teen and ask God to step in and do whatever He needs to at any cost, remember He knows what is best.

What I have learned is to keep your focus on Him and pray it through with all you have. You will eventually begin to see things through God’s eyes instead of your own.

How do I know it had a great impact on my teen?  When she said, “In the worst of circumstances, God gives the best of blessings.”  She knows now that whenever a bad situation comes, God has something really good on the other side for her to gain.