God hears and answers prayers but in His timing and His way. It is wonderful when God answers our prayers for someone to be healed or responds to another request. But what if God answers our prayers by saying no or waiting? When God does not answer our prayers the way we want, it can lead us to question God.
As we grow in faith, we realize God always knows best, even when it does not make sense to us at the time. God sent the prophet Elijah to the village of Zarephath, where a widow would feed him during a drought. The widow told Elijah she had only enough food for one meal and then would starve. Elijah told her not to be afraid. 1 Kings 17:14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” [1]
The Widow Experienced a Miracle
As Elijah said, the Lord provided her with oil and flour, which did not run out. God demonstrated His power, love, and provision through this miracle. But sometime later, her son grew sick and died. In this crisis, she began to doubt the goodness of God. She had seen the miracle of God’s provision, and now the Lord would show her the power of prayer.
1 Kings 17:19 But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. 20 Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” 21 And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”[2]
In our desperation, the Lord urges us to come to His throne of grace. What would God do? To this point, no person had ever been raised from the dead. Elijah’s prayer seemed to be asking the impossible.
The Widow Experienced a Second Miracle
1 Kings 17:22 The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! [3] As the woman observed what had happened, she knew Elijah was a man of God, and the Lord did speak through him. This is a beautiful end of the story of the widow of Zarephath that shows us the power of prayer.
Sometimes, our most significant tests of faith are not when God answers in the way we desire, such as in this story. At those times, the Lord calls us to press into Him more deeply as He sustains us through the valley of hardship. When the Lord walks through the valley with us, we often experience His greatest love, mercy, and compassion as we depend on Him. Perhaps this is where you are right now. Take the Lord’s hand and know He is with you. He hears your prayers. Trust Him even when circumstances are not easy.
To learn how God hears and answers prayers, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/elijah-and-the-widow
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.