Have you ever felt like your prayers were just getting nowhere? I can testify. There are days that it seems like they just hit the ceiling and that’s it. We got a great reminder recently that He does hear our prayers. I have a son in recovery. It has been an unsettling trial of ups and downs, success and failure and many tears and prayers. A very emotional time for all of us. It has been baffling to us because my husband and I do not drink. We have never been drinkers. When I first moved to RI, I saw that everyone drank wine. I tried to like it. I just could never acquire the tase for it. I once tried beer because the commercials show such an exciting life of fun when you drink a beer. It was the most disgusting thing. How can anyone drink that stuff? My son said you have to acquire a taste for it. No thank you. I cannot tolerate the taste. It was so nasty.
I have told my son over and again that he can’t succeed without the Lord. The Bible says if you clean the house out of demons, they will return 7-fold and come back in (Matthew 7:43-45). He can give up drinking, but unless he substitutes it with something else, he will fail. He needs the Lord to help him succeed. He was so damaged by church and Christian school in his early years that he has been turned off by any mention of the Lord for over 20 years. It is so easy to get discouraged, praying for over 20 years to see Him come back to church and a relationship with the Lord, and not seeing the change you long for.
It has been very scary seeing him go through the lows. He has so much going for him. He is a super nice guy, loads of fun, a hard worker, a nice job, a nice house, 2 beautiful kids. He has always had a ton of friends. I do not say that just because I am his mom. He hit a low recently and fell back out of recovery. He was pretty bad. It finally seemed to sink in that He needed help from the Lord. He tried a local church, but it was not the right one for him.
A friend told him to try her church see if he liked it. He and his significant other went to this church. The minister started talking and his girl started crying. The pastor spoke on recovery. After church, my son went to ask for prayer. The line was long. A guy came up to him and said you will be here a long time, why don’t I pray with you and save you from waiting in this line. Very random. My son told him why he was there, and he needed help with recovery. The guy who offered to pray with him started laughing. He said, “Well you came to the right place. I am the leader of the recovery program here.” Talk about a God wink! My son asked his friend if she told the pastor he was coming. She of course said no.
We have prayed for over 20 years for my son to come back to the Lord and to church. He has been twice since then, even going to midweek prayer service. He went this past Sunday and took his kids with him. The Bible says our prayers are an incense to the Lord and to stay before His throne at all times. 20 years of prayers that were not forgotten. If you have been praying for something just be patient. My husband and I as well as our whole family were overjoyed at this answer to our prayer. It was worth the wait. Just thinking about it tears me up. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken (Ecc 4:12). He has the Lord this time with his girlfriend and himself. I choose to believe that Andrew will make it this time because He is seeking the Lord’s help. And I am going to keep praying, knowing that my prayers will reach Heaven and His throne as fragrant incense.
Revelation 5:8- In the throne room of Heaven the four and twenty elders fall down before the Lamb each holding a harp and a golden bowl filled with the prayers of the saints. Our prayers do reach His throne and He will answer in His time. Psalm 1 talks about a tree bearing fruit in his own time. God’s timing is perfect. We just have to wait for it.
