I wonder if we should judge the effectiveness of our prayer lives by how many answers we SEE. Is there another way, you ask? Well I can’t prove it but I have the strong impression that if we quit praying altogether we’d soon find out just how effective our prayers really were.

Do you remember some time ago the TV commercial for Internet parental controls in which a guardian went along with the kid diverting them from danger? The child went on their merry way with no idea of what had been avoided.

How many diseases did NOT come upon us or our family because we faithfully claimed the promises of God? How many car accidents did we avoid when we prayed a hedge of protection around our cars before taking off? How much favor and grace in our workplace prevented a pink slip?

We’ll never know will we? Because those things never happened. Many of them never happened because we prayed. It’s good to remind ourselves of this if we feel we are in a prayer draught. Maybe some things are slow in coming but there is a steady stream of answers that we would have to peek into the spiritual realm to recognize.

Since we will have so much time in eternity I’d like to schedule an afternoon with the Lord for a leisurely run through of the repercussions of ALL of my prayers during my whole lifetime. One thing I truly believe: the more I pray now, the longer that heavenly afternoon will last.