James 5:16
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Over the past several weeks, similar thoughts and statements related to prayer have been placed in my path. A few that have specifically stood out to me are:

The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked…

100% of the prayers I don’t pray won’t get answered…

History belongs to those who pray…

Never underestimate the power of a single prayer…

One prayer can accomplish far more than a hundred well made plans…

This past weekend my family and I spent time in Northern Wisconsin with our extended family. Amid all the fun, my five year old, Luke, lost his beloved teddy bear named Ma. Ma was given to Luke as a Christmas gift from my parents before his first birthday. For over five years now Ma has been Luke’s most treasured earthly possession. While we have had to track Ma Bear down in neighbor’s garages and basements at bedtime, Luke and Ma have spent every day and night together (minus a recent family vacation when Ma Bear was tragically left home!). Never in five years has there been a time when we have gone to bed not knowing exactly where Ma Bear was. With that in mind, you can imagine how difficult it was after endless searching to make the 2 1/2 hour trip home without Ma…having no idea where he had gone.

While Luke was beside himself on the drive home, I told him repeatedly that we just needed to stay calm and keep praying that Jesus would help us find him. Meanwhile, the grandparents continued the search back home…including the church parking lot… tractors and trailers… and what seemed like every inch of the house. Ma was nowhere to be found.

It is actually a bit ridiculous to think how many times I woke up that night praying we would find Ma. That God would give us clarity and help us locate him. I realize that in the grand scheme of things Ma Bear is not overly important, but to my little guy he is priceless.

When Luke came out from his room the next morning he found me in the kitchen asking right away if any of the grandparents had found Ma. I told him no, and we began for the umpteenth time trying to think of when he last had Ma. At that moment my mom sent a text saying that while exercising in her basement and praying that God would direct her to Ma she noticed that one particular couch cushion looked a bit off. While the basement had been searched multiple times, after lifting the cushion up, there was Ma!

Now, I get that some may not find this an answer to prayer. Could it have been a coincidence? Pure chance? One could argue so, but I believe God was delighted to answer our prayers. Does God, the Creator of the universe really care about a 5 year old boy’s lost teddy bear? I believe so. Why? Because He loves that 5 year old beyond all comprehension. What is important to him is important to God.

The same is true for us. What is important to you is important to God. The big things as well as the little. We should pray about both.

1 John 5:14-15 tells us, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

I think that sometimes we feel jaded in regards to prayer because perhaps in the past God has not answered our prayers in the way or time we wanted. I’ve been there and it can be confusing and heartbreaking. But here is what I do know:

The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked…

100% of the prayers I don’t pray won’t get answered…

History belongs to those who pray…

Never underestimate the power of a single prayer…

One prayer can accomplish far more than a hundred well made plans…

What do you need to pray about today, big or small? Trust that God, your loving Father, will answer your prayer in the perfect time and the perfect way. There is no such thing as a wasted prayer.