Unasked and Answered

Unanswered prayer has received a lot of attention over the years. People like to give reasons why God seems to say no, such as it’s not the right time, something better is waiting around the corner, or what may seem good for you might not be good for someone else. I don’t remember hearing about unasked prayers, meaning a time when we receive something great we didn’t even ask for and maybe didn’t even know to ask for. 

When Jesus left Capernaum and entered the village of Nain (Luke 7:11-15), he crossed paths with a funeral procession. Either he asked or he perceived that the dead man was a widow’s only son and he was filled with compassion. He told her not to cry, told the man to get up and then gave him back to his mother. There’s no indication she asked Jesus to do this; rather he took the initiative to raise this man from the dead. This was the first time, out of only three, that Jesus brought someone back to life, and none of them happened because he was asked to do so. It probably would have been audacious to ask anyway. 

It’s true what Jesus said about already knowing what we need (Matthew 6:32) and it’s encouraging that he sometimes (often?) gives us what we need without us ever asking. There have been many times I haven’t known how to pray or what to pray, but he already knew and gave me what I needed just because he loves me. You’ve probably experienced this too. Instead of lamenting our “unanswered prayers,” maybe we should give thanks more often for the answered “unasked” ones. We would probably find they outnumber the others.