I’ve come to realize in recent years that if our prayers are always vague and ambiguous, any answers to those prayers that we receive will also seem vague, ambiguous, and nebulous.
Vague prayers help me to feel secure despite my lack of faith. For I can always convince myself that an unanswered vague prayer was actually answered, albeit in a vague way.
Now, I’m not saying that if we begin prayerfully voicing specific petitions to God, that He will always grant those requests. BUT, He will always answer them. I know those last two sentences initially sound contradictory. What we must acknowledge when we voice specific prayer requests to God is that His answer will either come in the form of a very specific “Yes” or a very specific “No”. However, either way, there is an answer. A very specific answer.
Throughout the last three years as I’ve emailed monthly prayer updates to you, I’ve attempted to avoid the temptation of writing vague prayer requests. I haven’t always done this well.
Before I write about a very specific “Yes” answer to prayer that Laura and I received yesterday, I want to first juxtapose it with a very specific “No” answer that we repeatedly previously received.
When God says no…
For all of 2007, those of us on the Servants Vancouver team prayed daily for God to provide a permanent home for us in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). The repeated answer was “No”. I lived in six places my first year in Vancouver, all of them temporary leases, and only one of them located in the DTES. Incidentally, this brought a whole new meaning to Jesus’ comment that those who leave their home for the sake of the Kingdom will receive a hundredfold in this life! Almost every time, we only had a few days left to find a new place in which to live before we had to move out of our current house.
Looking back, I see why God answered our very specific prayers for a permanent home in the DTES with a resounding “No”. With housing costs soaring in Vancouver (partly due to the upcoming Olympic Games) and low-income housing dwindling throughout the city, many of our impoverished neighbors struggle to find places to rent. In God’s infinite wisdom, it seems that He saw it best to refuse our request in order for us to experience some of the same sufferings most of our impoverished neighbors go through as they struggle to find shelter. Why should we be exempt from the suffering of our neighbors?
When God says yes…
Fast-forward two years to the present time. With Laura being pregnant and sick, and both of us longing for some more solitude, we began prayerfully searching for housing. After two months of searching every day for a place to live, I felt like God was inviting me to a challenge: “Alright, after two months of dead-ends,” I sensed God saying to me, “you now remember just how difficult it is to find housing in this city. But I want to show you just how good of a Father I am. I give good gifts to My children, and at just the right time. I dare you to make a list of specific things you want in an apartment. Don’t you dare hold back as you write that list. Make it long. Make it very specific. I promise you that you will not be able to make a list that I cannot fulfill.”
So I made a list:
- We want an apartment that is located within two blocks of the team apartment. We want to be close enough to them that we could walk there in our pajamas or carrying a large casserole dish.
- Sunlight brings so much joy to Laura. So we want an apartment with large windows along the southern wall and no trees or buildings that block the sunlight from entering our place.
- A place that is quiet (which is not easy living in a city with busy streets).
- Though we want a quiet place, we also want a place that allows us to remain connected with Asians and has a layout that will help us build community with Asian neighbors.
- Rent and utilities for under $1000. You can’t rent any apartments for less than $800 in this city, so this stipulation was quite the challenge.
- We want a simple yet homey place. When we first got married, I promised Laura that every future home we lived in would be worse than the last one. (OK, this was said with some humor, and thinking our next place would be a shack in a Indonesian slum. Interestingly enough, when Laura and I rented a room in a slum in Jakarta in Feb. 2008, the room was nicer than our place in Wichita. Hmm…)
- Though every rental agreement in Vancouver requires a minimum one-year lease, because Laura and I hope to visit family after our baby is born and then head to Indonesia, we only want to rent a place through January 2010. We want our rental agreement to be for August 1st through January 31st.
- I want to only move one more time while we’re here in Vancouver. No more temporary rentals for a month here and a month there.
- I’m sure it’s related to a lack of trust, but I get stressed when You wait until the very last day to provide a place to live. We lose our current home at the end of July. So I want everything to be finalized by Monday, July 20th. This is four days away, two of which are a weekend.
- And finally, I want it to be a place where Laura feels safe.
This was quite the specific prayer request! And this time God answered with a booming “Yes”. Yesterday (Monday July 20th) afternoon a realty company offered us a one-bedroom apartment directly across the street from the team apartment. Located on the third floor, it has two sets of sliding glass doors on the southern wall that go out to a small balcony. There is an open courtyard in the center of the building which will be perfect for getting to know our neighbors, all of whom appear to be elderly Asians. The place is quiet, seems safe, and is under $1000 for the monthly rent.
To trust God’s answer…
There was only one part of my list that remained unanswered. The rental agreement called for a one-year lease. Should we sign the agreement and hope we can sublease the place to someone reliable when we leave? It seemed to me that if I signed the rental agreement, I would be doing it out of a lack of faith. Knowing this could risk us losing the place, I called up the realty company and informed them that we were only willing to sign a six-month lease agreement. The realtor hesitated on the phone, toying with how to respond, and after two seconds that seemed like an eternity, she agreed to our stipulation.
Specific prayers yield specific answers, and all the glory goes specifically to God!
God: For answering our specific prayer for housing in 2007 with a repeated “No”, You grew compassion within our hearts for our homeless neighbors, and You grew our trust in You to provide for all of our needs. For that “No”, I thank You and give You all the glory and credit.
God: For answering our specific prayer for housing in 2009 with a booming “Yes”, You have reminded us that You are Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, and You grew our trust in You to provide for all of our needs. For that “Yes”, I thank You and give You all the glory and credit.
