Faithbase

Hi friends, Amber Ginter here. I know I'm sitting kind of awkwardly, I do that, but I'm repping my faith and mental health shirt today. Mental health matters, hashtag mental health matters. That actually came from a local shop that we used to have in my town. But I'm really excited to share today's devotional with you. And I'm going to go ahead and read the scripture. This is 1st John 5, 14. And it says, This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. I was talking with a friend this week about the promises of God and how sometimes we can grow really weary in waiting for his answer. Sometimes God says yes, sometimes God says no, sometimes says not yet, sometimes says, you know, I have something better in store. Now, the focus that I want to emphasize here is that God hears us. And so if I could entitle this anything, it would be that God hears us. When I was in probably third or fourth grade, and this is a little bit embarrassing for me. But when I was in about third or fourth grade, I had a best friend. And, you know, this person is no longer in my life. But I had this best friend. And one day, another little girl came up to me on the playground. And she said, so and so doesn't want to be your friend anymore. And I'm like, well, why don't they just tell me themselves and they didn't. And so a couple months later, and then I met another little girl. And this little girl was like obsessed with me. She wanted to be my best friend. She held my hand everywhere. She dragged me everywhere on the playground, on the swings, things I didn't want to do in the playground, she would force me to do I'd get on the I still remember I got on the teeter totters one day, she like jumped on one end, and I've always been real light and tiny, but she jumped on one end, and I literally went flying through the air and like hit the concrete on the other. And I remember, every single day, for a couple months, I want to say six months, I prayed, Lord, please make this girl move. Like, I prayed that God would remove her from my life, and that she would move to a different school because I didn't know, in that moment how to address that, that poor friendship, because I had lost a really good friend. Now I have this girl that wants to be my friend, but it's not a safe or stable relationship. Well, one day I went to school, and the teacher took roll call. And she's like, Oh, so and so moved. And I'm like, No way that she moved, she moved, I never saw her again, in my life. As silly as that might sound, I want to encourage you today that we can have confidence in approaching God and that when we ask things according to his will, that he does hear us. I want to give the caveat and the preface that the way that God responds to those prayers doesn't always match our anticipations. It doesn't match what we would like to happen or what we pray would happen. But I want you to be encouraged that no matter what you're going through, God does hear you. And there are so many answers to prayer that he hears time and time again, even when we feel like he doesn't. Another example for that would be that, you know, I waited over 22 years to be in a relationship. I never dated in high school. I was never asked out on a date. And I continually asked God, you know, why? Why is this not working? You can actually see tear stains on the wood floor of my bedroom at my parents house where I pounded my fist into the ground and I cried and I pleaded with God like why is this person not like me? When are you going to send me the right person? You know, I'm going to be alone forever. And you know, I am so genuinely happy to report that God heard that prayer. And so he made me wait that amount of time. And I know that that was for a purpose and a point. And I'm blessed that I, you know, only had to date and marry one person. And that ended up being my husband that I have now. And I prayed for that. I prayed to date one person. I prayed to marry one person. And that's kind of what ended up happening. And I thought that, you know, my prayers were silly, but God heard me. And so I pray that that encourages you today, friend, that no matter what you're experiencing, that God is hearing your prayers. Sometimes prayers take longer than others to be answered. I have prayers that I've prayed 5, 6, 7, 8 years for and never had the answer. But I know that all things work together for good. And I know that if I keep coming boldly to him that he hears me. And I pray that encourages you today. Love you guys.