When God Answers Your Prayer in a Big Way

There are some moments in our faith walk that we will never forget. Maybe it was a time you felt a nudge from God or heard him speak a truth into your heart.  For me, it was the latter. 

Let’s flashback to 2018: I had recently started writing weekly on my blog. The year before that God had placed a book idea into my heart, and I was just beginning to create my first book proposal. Originally, I thought it would only be on my divorce, but I felt God say in my heart, There are two other heartbreaks that need to go into this book.

As I thought about my miscarriage and losing my friend to cancer, I was stunned as I realized most women have walked through one of these losses or knew someone who had.

Grateful for God’s words, I thought to myself, How do you write a book with three different storylines?

This question became my prayer request for the next two months.

Interestingly, when I began writing every Wednesday, I would pray every Tuesday night for God to give me the words He wanted me to share. Each Wednesday morning at 5:00am, I would wake up with stories and phrases dancing in my head that I knew were from God.

If he can do it each week for my blog, I knew He would be faithful for my book.

So in addition to praying for my weekly posts, I prayed for God to speak to me and give me a clear vision for my book.

The answer to this prayer is one of those marked moments in time for my faith.

My youngest son was in 5^th grade, and we had an hour-long bus drive to his field trip. Assuming I would sit next to my friend and gib gab the whole way, I did not bring a book or anything to do for the lengthy ride. She ended up sitting next to the teacher, and I sat next to a mom I had never met. We did not have much in common, and I found myself sitting there quietly with a whole lot of time on my hands.

I truly believe God needed me to be still and completely silent, so I could hear him loud and clear.

That morning, I had read a devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries about finding hope in loss. As I read through the comments, women shared how God felt distant and they did not see light at the end of the tunnel. They doubted God’s goodness and were confused by His plan for their lives.

As I was thinking about those hurting women and the truth they needed, suddenly a very profound thought entered my brain.

The word, STRENGTH, began to turn on its side, and words started to form for each letter.

S– Seek God and run to Him in the pain.

I sat there in awe of the God of the Universe! He was answering my prayer by dropping into my head a beautiful acrostic for the word, Strength which would become the outline for my book with my three different storylines.

I did not have any paper or anything to write these thoughts down, so I grabbed my phone and began an email to myself. More thoughts kept appearing and I just started typing out the notes.

Each phrase left me speechless. God was answering my prayer!

T– Trust God has a good plan beyond what you can understand.

As I was typing these words, I realized that there are two T’s in Strength, so I decided that should be the second one as it is hard to trust right at the beginning of the loss.

T– Take time to grieve.

As soon as these words dropped in my brain, I realized this needed to be the first T in the acrostic. It is so important to take time to time to feel, so you can begin to heal. It later changed to Tearfully allow yourself time to grieve and process the emotions.

E– Embrace God’s Character Development.

Even though I never heard God’s audible voice, I knew God was speaking to me. In such a tangible way, it was like His words were downloading into my head. To this day, when I think of that hour long bus ride, I smile and say, “In awe of God 2018.”

Friend, God wants to speak to you too!

I think many times, life is too busy, and the world is too noisy to listen. Can I encourage you to find time to stop, be still, and wait on Him?

For me, it took an hour of silence and months of prayer, but Wow, He showed up big!

I believe God wants to show up big for you too. He desires your time. He wants you to seek Him and ask Him for His wisdom and guidance. Maybe like me, you don’t hear Him audibly, but you sense His nudges or His voice in your head and heart.

These powerful moments will deepen your faith. These marked moments in your walk will change your life.

Praying you hear from the God of the Universe this week!

Love, Jodi

Note: Last year, I did a special episode on the Depth podcast for each letter of the STRENGTH acrostic in my Depth Book. I highly recommend listening especially if you are walking through grief.

Seek God and Invite Him into the Pain — Depth Podcast Episode 188

Tearfully Allow Yourself Time to Grieve and Process the Emotions — Depth Podcast Episode 189

Replace your Finite View with God’s Infinite Perspective — Depth Podcast Episode 190

Embrace God’s Character Development in the Midst of the Chaos — Depth Podcast Episode 191

Never Lose Sight of God’s Grace — Depth Podcast Episode 193

Give Praise to God Even as Your Heart Breaks — Depth Podcast Episode 194

Trust God is Good When Your Mind is Doubting and You Don’t Understand — Depth Podcast Episode 195

Honestly Share Your Story and Help Another Hurting Heart — Depth Podcast Episode 196