“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
― Albert Einstein

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
–Garth Brooks Unanswered Prayers

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; [m]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.
— Matthew 15:21-27

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on passion. After really thinking about it, I started to see how your passion for something could get you called insane, or have people praise you for your dedication to whatever it is. This past week I really felt God leading me into this post about how we pray for things and how we display our faith, passion, and even our work ethic.

It’s been a few crazy weeks around the house with Easter, birthdays, work trips, vacation, and the many other things that are just part of daily life. So when I felt God placing this message on me I took some extra time to pray and look at my own faith and prayer life. As a family we pray EVERY night before the munchkin goes to sleep and then we will all say at least one thing that we are thankful for from the day we just had. But every night, as we are praying the munchkin will have to insert her request to Jesus, and it is the same every night, for her to have a baby brother or baby sister, and she will also pray for people that we had said were sick weeks ago, even if we have forgotten they were sick, she makes sure that we tell Jesus to be with them.

But the are things that we as Christians, find ourselves constantly asking God for: wisdom and guidance in career decisions and all decisions in general, healing, financial help/guidance. But at some point even the most dedicated Christians will fall victim to fear and doubt, but it is here that we must remember that God’s timing is not the same as ours. Just when we think that we have things all figured out, God shows us that he is still in control. So even when it seems like our prays are nor being heard, we know that God hears the voices of all of his children.

Along with the verse I have quoted above , another prime example of how God feels about us in found in Matthew 7:7-11—

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

It’s spelled out clearly, that when we go to God and just ask, if it is his will for us, he will grant that request. There are times, many times, that the things we ask for are not the best things for us. I mean honestly think about it as a parent, if you kid is asking for Ice cream for dinner, you are going to say no. In the same way, we may not see how our request will hurt us in the long run, but God will eventually give us something else and we forget about what we were originally looking for, or we see that is was actually a better alternative to what we had been praying so hard for.

So while many people will look at our faith as partial insanity, we pray for the same things all the time and get the same results, but we expect something different. This is where we must insure that our faith is strong enough to remember and trus that our heavenly father still knows what is best for us. God wants us to trust him, to pursue him daily, and to be devoted to him in our daily lives. It is this stubborn blind passionate devotion that sets us apart as Christians. While many do not understand why we believe what we do, we know what God can, will, and has done for each of us in our lives.

So take time to think about the way that you pray, what you have been praying for, and also the things that God has done for you in the past. Look for the other solution to your problems, because sometimes we are so focused on what we want, we don’t see the answer God is placing directly in front of us.