Telling an answered prayer: simply, without exaggerating
When God answers a prayer, the joy is great. Then life goes on, and the event fades. This quest invites you to tell it to someone: a friend, your group, your family. This simple account can encourage someone else's faith and anchor your own.
What it looks like in your day
Choose the answered prayer. A prayer you carried, and whose answer you saw. It can be big (a healing, a job) or small (a lost object found, a conversation that went well). It doesn't need to be spectacular.
Tell it in order. Four elements are enough:
- The situation. “Three months ago, I was looking for a job and starting to lose hope.”
- The prayer. “I asked God for a door, and I prayed every day for a few weeks.”
- What happened. “A former colleague called me on a Monday morning to offer me a position.”
- What it taught me. “I understood that God doesn't forget, even when it drags on.”
Stay honest. Don't say “God sorted everything out” if things are more nuanced. “I believe God answered” is more accurate than “It's a proven miracle.” Avoid superlatives.
Leave room for the other person. After your story, ask: “And you, have you experienced something similar?” An answered prayer told aloud can awaken others.
Choose the right moment. When someone is going through a time of waiting, your story can encourage them. But if the person has been waiting for years for an answer that doesn't come, adapt: don't say “God always answers.”
If you are short on time, three sentences are enough. If you are shy, write your story and share it in a message. If you are a beginner, a simple answered prayer is worth as much as a big one.
What the Bible says
The psalmist invites us to tell:
“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.”
“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul”: the story is addressed to those who fear God, to encourage them. Another psalm reminds us that we tend to forget:
“And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.”
“And forgat his works”: forgetting is a slope. Telling is a way of not letting God's works fall into oblivion. And Psalm 126 expresses the joy of a people who have seen God act:
“The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”
A simple sentence that could sum up your story: “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”
Pitfalls to avoid
Exaggerating. Embellishing a story so that it impresses damages its credibility. A true story, with its nuances, touches people more.
Putting yourself at the center. “Look how well I prayed” diverts attention. The hero of the story is God.
Generalizing. A prayer answered for you doesn't mean that every prayer will be answered in the same way. Stay humble.
Telling it tactlessly to someone who is suffering. If the other person has been waiting for an answer for a long time, your story may hurt them. Listen first, tell afterwards if it is the right moment.
Forgetting the answers that came “differently”. Sometimes the answer isn't the one we expected. You can tell those too: they teach a lot.
Today, choose an answered prayer. Tell it to someone in four steps: situation, prayer, answer, what you learned.