Unanswered Prayers
“Unanswered Prayers”
by Garth Brooks
Just the other night at a hometown football game
My wife and I ran into my old high school flame
And as I introduced them the past came back to me
And I couldn’t help but think of the way things used to be
She was the one that I’d wanted for all times
And each night I’d spend prayin’ that God would make her mine
And if he’d only grant me this wish I wished back then
I’d never ask for anything again
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
She wasn’t quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams
And I could tell that time had changed me
In her eyes too it seemed
We tried to talk about the old days
There wasn’t much we could recall
I guess the Lord knows what he’s doin’ after all
And as she walked away and I looked at my wife
And then and there I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts in my life
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs
That just because he may not answer doesn’t mean he don’t care
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
Some of God’s greatest gifts are all too often unanswered…
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers
Unanswered prayers….when I was younger, I believed that if I prayed God should and would answer my prayers. Then I believed prayer to be me expressing my needs and wants to God, and Him answering these things if He so pleased to do so. I thought well if I had been good enough, God would answer my prayers and if I had been bad God would not answer my prayers. Now I look back and think to myself what a distorted perception of prayer, don’t ya think so? Not only do I believe this was selfish but it also confines and prescribes to God. How do I have the right to tell God what I need/want and when and where I need/want this? After reading Martin Luther and Brother Lawrence on the topic prayer, I have come to believe that pray is not only when we bring our concerns, sins, and needs to God, but that we have to put them in His hands and listen for God and praise Him with Thanksgiving.
One must have faith in prayer. Martin Luther says this ”Faith makes prayer acceptable because it believes that either the prayer will be answered, or that something better will be given instead.” This is the main point of what I would like to focus on. One day in Spiritual Formation class as we were meditating on prayer, a memory came to my mind. I’m not really sure how and why I started to think about when my paternal grandfather was dieing. As I stood next to the hospital bed with my weak dieing grandfather in it, I held his hand and prayed to God that he would give my grandfather strength, healing, and renewed life. After a week of sitting by my grandfather’s bed side and watching his health deteriorate, my grandfather passed away. Throughout the next week, we attended wakes for him a few times a day for a couple days, and finally had a military funeral to honor him for fighting in the Battle of the Boulge. This was one of the most difficult and mentally draining times in my life. I felt that I had to be strong because the rest of my family was fighting and it seems just there to see if they could get anything out of the death of my grandfather. My emotions were all over the place, and I couldn’t seem to makes sense of much at the time. Well during this time, my father seemed to start opening up to me more. Crying was not something I normally found my father doing. During the funeral, my father just leaned over and cried with me. This is one of the moments in my life I will never forget, I felt so closely connected with my father. At the hotel during this time, I experienced my father telling stories of my grandparents (I did not know my grandmother- she passed away before I was born) and remembering the joyful times in life. These great moments that I experienced during this grieving period, I believe really strengthened my relationship with my father.
So as I meditated about prayer, I thought about unanswered prayers. After struggling to find what it means to pray, I believe that all prayers are answered just maybe not in the way we want or expect them to be. I can really relate to this song Unanswered Prayers by Garth Brooks. The song is about a guy when he was younger prayed to marry his highschool flame. Years later, he is married to someone else and runs into this highschool flame. After reflecting on the good times with her, then does he realize the gifts in life that God has blessed Him with. My story is not about a highschool flame, even though I got one of those too, but is about praying for the life of my grandfather, but in the end receiving a strengthened renewed relationship with my father. As I reflect on this memory, I prayed that my grandfather’s life be restored at that particular time, I was restricting God. When my grandfather passed away, I believed God never answered my prayer. If I had only read Martin Luther, and heard Garth Brooks song sooner this all would have been clearer. I believe that my prayer was answered just not in the respect and time that I wanted. My prayer was heard and received by God in the end, just God had a different way of fulfilling my prayer!
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