Category: Devotional Thoughts

God’s “Ordinary” Answers to Prayer

Look at the birds of the air . . .
–Matthew 6:26

Years ago I heard kind of a modern-day parable. It goes like this:

A certain man lived in a town that was flooding. The water level rose above the streets, making cars useless. The man was sitting on his porch and praying when a raft came by. “Hop on in, we’ll save you,” said the people in the raft. “No, the man replied. “I have prayed and God promised that He would save me.”

The waters kept rising, flooding the first floor of the man’s house. He went up to the second floor and continued to pray. A boat stopped by. “Come on in, we’ll save you,” said the boat’s passengers. “No, the man replied. I have prayed and God promised that He would save me.”

The waters continued to rise, forcing the man to climb upon is roof. A helicopter eventually hovered over his roof. They dropped down a rope and begged him to grab it. “Let us help you or you’ll die,” they pleaded. “No, the man replied. I have prayed and God promised that He would save me.”

The man drowned.
He was disappointed as he stood before God. “Lord,” he said, “you promised you would save me. Why didn’t you?”

“I sent a raft, a boat, and a helicopter,” God replied, “what else did you want me to do?”

Sometimes we fail to recognize God’s intervention and activity. We pray, but then we demand that God answer us according to our own plans and ideas (which can be quite grandiose). If God’s answer seems too ordinary or obvious, we conclude that it isn’t of Him.

We need to understand that God often answers prayers in very simple ways:

He is more likely to send a friend than an angel.

He is more likely to send wise advice than heavenly visions.

He is more likely to send a job opportunity than an envelope full of money.

Jesus performed numerous miracles, yet He also encouraged His followers to see God’s activity in “insignificant” things. He drew their attention to birds and flowers, noting that God sustains these humble forms of life.

Faith is trusting God to do great, marvelous, and unexplainable things. True faith, however, also sees God at work in the mundane.

Decisions and God’s Will: Tightrope or Playground?

Last week I preached on 1st Corinthians 7. This text includes Paul’s advice/instructions to those who are single. Paul wanted the Corinthians to consider the benefits of remaining single. He also said that getting married was a good, God-honoring choice.

Here’s what I find fascinating about this text: Paul essentially says, “Here are the pros and cons, now you decide.” He did not say, “God will tell you whether to be single or get married.” He did not say, “God will choose your spouse for you.”

Sometimes it seems that we try to be more spiritual than the Bible. I hear people, for example, talk about God choosing their spouses for them. I honestly like this idea, but I’ve never clearly seen it in the Bible.

This way of thinking can lead to some humorous interactions between single men and women. I know of more than one single person who has heard this line: “God told me that you are the one I am to marry.” The bewildered young man or woman then wonders why God didn’t inform him/her of “the plan.” Should I mention that this line is usually used on singles who are absolutely gorgeous?

Others are terrified that God will choose something they don’t want, like forcing them into a life of singleness. Or since God has a sense of humor, perhaps He will choose the ugliest man/woman in your city to be your spouse.

According to Paul, the very choice to marry is ours. Likewise, the person we marry is our choice.

I have a couple of analogies that I think are helpful. They aren’t perfect (analogies rarely are), but at least you’ll have some food for thought.

The Tightrope: Absolute Safety or Absolute Disaster

Screen shot 2025 07 18 at 10.05.06 am

It seems that some view God’s will as a tightrope, especially when it comes to relationship choices. Stay on the rope and you’ll be absolutely safe–no harm will come to you. Make one wrong move and it’s all over, with no hope of getting back to safety. Every step must be slowly and carefully analyzed. Every move must be perfectly calculated. Some call this the “paralysis of analysis.”

With a tightrope mentality, every painful experience is interpreted as the direct result of your mistake. If you get heartbroken or rejected, it means that you stepped off “the rope” and you deserved it. This sounds extreme, but I constantly hear evidence of this mentality. It is not unusual for a heartbroken single to email me after a breakup. He/she assumes that he/she did something wrong. A perfect “tightrope,” after all, means that you find “Mr/Ms Right” on the first date and walk straight into marriage. Any other result and you’ve obviously departed from “God’s will.”

I think there’s a better way of thinking about God’s will:

The Playground: Boundaries, Bumps, and Bruises
Screen shot 2025 07 18 at 10.07.11 am

God’s will, like a playground, does have boundaries. He instructs us, for example, to avoid sexual immorality in our relationships. He instructs us to choose singles who are committed Christians. His Word teaches us to make wise decisions. Step outside of His protective commands and you will have major problems–it’s just like leaving the playground’s fence and deciding to play in the street.

Within the playground, however, we will have more than one choice. We have the choice of staying single or pursuing marriage. We have more than one person to choose from if we decide to get married. We must carefully listen to God, but we can trust Him to warn us if we are somehow headed for disaster. There’s no need to be afraid in the playground.

We will probably have a few bumps and bruises along the way. All of us have fallen and scraped our knee a time or two. This is a normal part of growing up. This doesn’t always mean that you disobeyed God–it is just part of living in an imperfect world.

There’s a chapter in Knowing God’s Will based on the concept of this post.