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The last 7 months of Juanita’s marriage to Johnny featured prayer, prayer, and more prayer. Their narrative began similarly to many urban love stories. After ending a seven-year relationship, Juanita relocated from Atlanta to New York at the age of 31 to pursue a career in the fashion industry.
She was prepared for a new beginning and had heard incredibly thrilling tales about the New York dating scene. She met Johnny at an industry event after a series of dates and failed short-term relationships, and they clicked right away. He was endearing in his pleasant manner, unmistakable personality, and—most importantly—sincere attention to everything she said.
Johnny and Juanita had always gotten along well and enjoyed a lot of fun and adventure together. They seldom got into arguments, and when they did, it was usually over whole wheat vs honey wheat bread in the grocery store.
Their relationship began with the best kind of natural connection—the kind you hear about but never actually believe you will ever have. They had an organic, undisciplined connection and went on dates that made them forget about everyone else. There was no doubt they were deeply in love with each other since they had fantastic sex and funny talks that still made them laugh to this day.
Yet, Juanita was now wondering where all that sizzle in their relationship had disappeared to. The days and weeks of silent treatment were eating at her. Was Johnny seeing somebody else? Was he no longer interested in her? Were they unequally yoked? All these horrible questions prompted much prayer, which nobody was answering.
The Mystery of Prayer
Praying is such an everyday normal thing that most of us do. It’s in all parts of our lives. People pray at weddings, funerals, holiday events, etc. We pray at the birth of someone and at the death of someone.
People pray for direction and wisdom in life. Mothers pray for their children and families. Prayer goes on in just about everything in life.
But what do you do after you have prayed for something? Should you sit around and wait? Do you do something else with the prayer? Is it wise to continue in life as usual? Do you keep praying about it again and again until the answer comes?
After You Pray
There does not seem to be any instruction for what happens after you pray.
Sometimes, we get ahead of God after we pray. We pray and then we expect immediate results or answers. When the answer does not come, we step out and do what we think and mess things up.
Other times we just get frustrated with prayer or God and we stop believing and our expectation becomes low. Disappointment sets in and discouragement begins to rule our hearts.
Here are four key points to remember after you have prayed about something. Keep these keys close in your memory so that disappointment, discouragement, or unbelief will not settle in your heart. Remember to…
Keep Listening
Listening after you have prayed is as much a part of prayer as the praying or speaking part. A lot of people come to their prayer time, and they just talk to God. They pour out, they ask, they cry, and they release a lot of words and emotions, but they never really stop to listen to God. What do I mean?
Prayer is two ways. You pray. You wait and listen. Then God talks. Don’t be in a rush to get up from your prayer time without waiting. Wait for God to speak. This is a major part of prayer. One of the unique things about prayer is the God we pray to is alive and willing to talk back to us. It is never a one-way conversation.
Trust God
The next key is trust. If you waited for God to speak back to you as instructed above, you now must trust what He said. Trust comes out of knowing a person. The more you pray the more you get to know God. The more you know Him the more you will trust Him.
Obey God’s Word
Your next key is obedience. You have prayed and you are going to trust what He said to you. Now, you obey the instruction He gives to you. God can say some shocking things at times to us. He can say things that we would probably never have thought of. He can give you an instruction that may seem outlandish or strange to you. It will be easy to obey that when you have been trusting Him.
Give Thanks
The last key is a heart of thanks. After you have prayed, spend some time just thanking God for what you know He is going to do. Thank Him for answering your prayer any way He sees fit. Thank Him for being your Father. Give Him the highest praise of expectation for the answer you know is coming. Let your faith soar with thanksgiving for the reality of how big God is in your situation.
The Last Word
These are a few of the things you can do after prayer. They do not have to take a long time but are a necessary part of the process.
Once you begin praying based on God’s Word, the next step in praying effectively is to submerge your prayers in faith. God may not answer your prayer the first time you ask or in the way you think he should answer it. That means you do not wait for a manifestation to believe you receive—that’s not faith!
Hold on and do not give up. You might have to pray and pray and pray some more. But do not get discouraged. If God has not given you a clear no, you keep praying.
Take these keys and let them settle in you. Let your heart rest after prayer that God knows best and has everything you need under control. Trust that He will not let you go. Let your mind rest that His word is true for you in all things.
God is the one true faithful God dear friend, and the answers are on the way. Happy praying.
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