Would you recognize the answer to a prayer you just prayed if it was right in front of you? Or not see it because after praying you had “left it up to God to answer”?
While fleeing for his life from his rebel son Absolom, King David prayed that the LORD would “turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (2 Samuel 15:31). David’s former chief counselor (now Absolom’s) was so wise that his advice was received as though God were speaking (2 Samuel 16:23).
But it’s one thing to pray a prayer and another thing altogether to recognize that the answer to that prayer is right in front of you. As David reached the top of Mount Olivet and fell on his knees to worship, his feet hurting, his cheeks running with tears, his head covered to hide the shame of fleeing from his own son—there, coming toward him was Hushai, the second wisest counselor in David’s kingdom!
We see David’s foresight in sending Hushai back to the court of Absolom. Who better to “turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness”? Hushai, David thought, might well be the answer to the prayer he had just prayed. Soon after, Absolom rejected Ahithophel’s counsel in favour of Hushai’s (which helped David to escape) and a dejected Ahithophel hung himself. Who answered David’s prayer? I would say that God gave David the sense to see that the answer to his own prayer was right in front of him.
We pray “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” But does this mean that God will somehow answer that prayer in some mysterious way? Or does it mean that after praying we expect that God will answer it in how we use opportunities that arise? God’s will is done in heaven through angelic obedience — why should it not be done on earth through ours? Jesus made God’s will quite clear—all that’s needed is for us to get out and do it.
Of course, we should pray “God’s will be done”— but what if the means by which He seeks to do it becomes clear? Matthew 9:36-38 records that Jesus was “moved with compassion” after seeing the needs of the people. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So, he said to his disciples, “The harvest in great but the labourers are few, so pray to the Lord of the harvest and ask him to send out [more] labourers into his harvest.”
This concludes the chapter, but out since there are no chapters in the ancient Greek manuscript, we should see the opening verses of Matthew 10 as a continuation and so segue into chapter 11, in which Jesus calls to himself the twelve disciples, authorizes them, and sends them out as temporary apostles.
Jesus had instructed his disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to “send forth” labourers, and no doubt they had prayed that He would do so. Now, they find themselves the first to be “sent forth”! They were the answer to the prayer Jesus had told them to pray. We might say that this short-term apostolic mission was their practicum, their work experience of what would soon be their whole way of life.
God’s promises to you over the years may be answered in in your faith, your hands, and your feet. If you have been praying, “Oh God, visit our church!”, then I suggest that you come early and open the doors to our building, make sure the air-con or heating is switched on, and put your name on the roster for receiving the offering and distributing communion. This will welcome strangers, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself sitting next to women with tattoos and men with earrings. If you’ve been asking God to “save the unsaved” you’d be well advised to memorize a few key texts from Romans. You wouldn’t want to stand in the street lost for words when a stranger approaches and asks, “How can I become a Christian?”
You won’t always see the answer to your prayers appear in front of you, and you are not the answer to every prayer you may have prayed for revival. May I suggest, however, that from now on whenever you pray about a particular problem, bear in mind that you may be God’s answer to it through your witness to them of God’s saving grace in Jesus. Exciting times are ahead, so we should prepare ourselves to see the answers to our prayers appear and grasp the opportunities they present!