Scritch, scritch, scratch, scritch, scritch, scratch….I
breathed in deeply and bent my body into the arc of the curve, crossing skate
over skate so I could turn faster. Slowly my arms unfurled and I relished in
the feeling of flight as my blades skimmed over the ice. This is peace. The thought settled over my mind like the warmth of
a close friend’s embrace as I quickly spun around and
let the worries of the day and the chaos and the noise all evaporate until there was nothing but the sound of my
skates on the ice and the rushing wind. This was an answer to prayer.
Just the day before, I’d contemplated the busy week ahead
that would leave little time for social interaction and exercise, and
frustration immediately flooded my mind and heart. Discouragement reared its ugly head, and I was
in desperate need of encouragement and joy to fight back against its grasping claws. I
sighed as I pulled out my Bible and journal and started to scrawl out my
prayers: I prayed specifically for encouragement from others the next day, and
that I could find joy in my day.
Fast forward 12+ hours, where I stood on the icy playground,
keeping an eye on the students scrambling through the snow. Despite the chill
in the air, my heart felt light and warm. My coworkers had expressed to me how
much they enjoyed working with me and had complimented my character, leaving my
face glowing with an odd combination of self-consciousness and joy. I’d
responded by thanking them and telling them that their kind words were a
literal answer to prayer.
Later in the day, I was chatting with a friend, and he also
had kind words for me in answer to my frustrations about the lack of quality
men my age in my area. His words had precisely addressed the doubts I’d been
feeling about myself lately, and spoke truth and encouragement to my
frustrations. Another answer to prayer.
As I drew out my journal that night, it was in eagerness to write
down the ways God had specifically answered my prayers from just the day
before. I started writing, and then slowed down as a thought hit me: What if I
had prayed those specific prayers, but then didn’t look in faith for their
answers? What if I’d just forgotten about them? How many times HAVE I done that
and have then missed the answers from the Lord who loves me? Granted, I know
that not all my specific prayers have been answered yet, but I trust now more
than ever that God is working towards their fulfillment, in my career,
relationships, and family. Sometimes I wonder if our complaints about
unanswered prayers are in part due to our own forgetful nature. So I am fueled
even more now to look continually for God’s faithfulness every day,
specifically in the area of praying and patiently watching.
In Psalm 5, King David speaks to this very thing:
“In the
morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.”
Notice, he says that he lays his requests before the Lord.
I’m pretty good at that. Sometimes I wonder if God is tired of hearing my
voice, honestly, that’s how much I lay prayer requests before him. BUT, this
isn’t where it ends for King David. The end of the verse says that he will then
“wait expectantly.” Well, let’s be honest, I’m not very good at that part. How
many of us are? Maybe you are. If so, please let me in on your secrets, because
I really struggle in this area. I’m grateful for the Bible’s reminder of this
second part of the prayer process. I need it.
As I rounded the next corner, I couldn’t keep the grin of
exhilaration from stealing over my face. JOY.
Pure joy. That’s what I feel every time I skate. I’m not the best skater in
the world by any means; barely a day on the ice goes by where I don’t wipe out
spectacularly, and I can’t do cool jumps or spins, but I can speed like nothing else, and I LOVE it.
I skate because it brings me joy, and this night was no exception. Yet another
specifically answered prayer. I put my earbuds back in my ears and listened to
the final notes of one of my favorite songs and slowly twirled to a stop as the
music ended. I slowly glided to the bench and let the emotions wash over me.
What a joyous end to an answered-prayer day.
