A Vision of God

Last week, I spent my morning commute praying.

As you may remember, my word for 2024 is miracles, specifically miracles of restoration miracles of purpose. I have several people in my life for whom I am praying for miracles of restoration–restoration of their relationship with God, restoration of their marriages, restoration other relationships. As I drove to work that morning, the word miracles was heavy on my heart and in my prayers.

As I drove and prayed, I had this vision of God. He was sitting in heaven, listening to my prayers. As I prayed, He had this mischievous little grin creeping across His face. I could see the excitement and anticipation as I poured out my heart.

It was a vision that made it clear He has it all worked out.

It was the vision that He has heard my prayers.

It was the vision that reminded me He is working even when I can’t see it.

It was the vision that even as I wait in expectation (Psalm 5:3), He is also waiting with expectation, knowing the beautiful answer to my prayers is on the verge of unfolding.

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.  And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. 1 John 5;14-15

I love this scripture! It’s such a reminder that when I am praying in accordance with God’s will, I can have confidence that He hears me and He answers me.

I am 100% confident my prayers are in accordance with God’s will. He leaves the 99 sheep to chase after the one who has wandered from the safety of the flock (Luke 15:1-7). The ones I am praying for have wandered from the safety of the flock. They are trying to make sense of God in light of some of the pain they have experienced in this life. It is God’s will that they return. Therefore, I can be assured that He will give me what I am asking for.

What do I learn from this verse? I see three key thoughts.

He hears us.

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

Sometimes I feel like my prayers aren’t going anywhere. Sometimes I feel like they hit the ceiling and just bounce around in my head. But I can be assured that God hears my prayers.

What comfort it gives me to know God is hearing my prayers! I can see Him sitting there, listening to me, hearing every word I utter. Maybe even better is that the Holy Spirit is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for me with groaning that express so much more than my words (Romans 8:26)!

He answers us.

And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

When we pray according to His will, He promises to answer. He always answers our prayers, but this verse tells us we will have what we have asked for. I can rest with the assurance that God has heard my prayer  and that He is actively working to draw those I love back to Him, that one day I will see the beauty of restoration I long for.

He delights in giving us what our hearts desire.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. James 1:17

Just as every good parent enjoys giving their kids good gifts, God is a loving parent who delights in blessing us with good things. He delights in answering our prayers.

Sometimes, God’s answers don’t look the way we think they should. When we don’t see God answer our prayers the way we think He should, it sometimes weakens our faith. But, if we will trust Him and persevere, we will eventually see that His plan is even better ours. That’s where so many fall away is because they can’t see that God’s plan is better than ours. They don’t believe God is a good God, a good parent who delights in giving good gifts to His children.

Several years ago, Steven Curtis Chapman produced a song called Glorious Unfolding. Those lyrics have coursed through my mind repeatedly since seeing my vision of God with such a sense of anticipation to watch my reaction as I see His plan, His answer to my prayers. Here’s a snippet of those lyrics: