‘Whoever has ears, let him hear.’ Matthew 11:15
Do we miss the answers to our prayers because we do not listen? Do we miss God’s miracles because our requests are met in an unexpected way and we don’t recognise them? We know that God answers prayer in His own unique way but we sometime out-guess God and work out our own answers in the way we think they should go.
I can imagine the early church praying all night for Peter’s release from prison. Some of us will have been involved in such all-night prayer. But are we like Rhoda, missing the miracle when it happens? We could judge Rhoda and wonder why she was surprised when, that was what she had been praying for all night. But have we acted any differently? Rhoda must have had a busy night, looking after everyone’s needs and snatching a prayer when she could. Then someone knocks on the door in the middle of the night. She could have done without that. I can imagine Peter standing at the closed door, cold, tired, dirty just wanting his nightmare to be over.
Do we look for answers to our prayers in the wrong place. We should never be surprised. We know God is a prayer-answering God. He is also the God of the unexpected. His ways are not our ways.