"Unanswered" Prayer

Returning from vacation has been somewhat discouraging. I feel like all the fight for faith in the area of infertility has been undone, and all the temptations to jealousy and self-pity are hitting me full force as if they are brand new. To remind myself of what the Lord has been teaching me over the past several months, I read back through my quiet time journal. I rediscovered these two quotes about prayers that seem to go unanswered - encouraging reminders to me as I continue to wrestle with the unfulfilled desire for a child, deferred for one and a half years and counting... (not that I'm keeping track - HA!)

"Give me unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain,
that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
I shall have larger, richer answers,
surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, thou hast given me the greatest gift, the person of thy Son,
and in him thou wilt give me all I need."

from "The Prayer of Love" in The Valley of Vision

"If the ships of prayer do not speedily return, it is because they are heavily loaded with blessings. When prayer is not immediately answered, it will be all the sweeter when the answer arrives. Prayer, like fruit, is ripened by hanging longer on the tree. If you knock with a heavy heart, you will soon sing with the joy of the Spirit. Therefore, do not be discouraged because the door is still closed."

from Beside Still Waters by C. H. Spurgeon