Thought for the day. Whenever you have a problem, no matter how impossible it may seem, consider this simple idea. Since our God is the God of the impossible, why should we pray and "hope" that He will answer our prayer? We should pray as though it's already answered. This isn't the "name it and claim it" gospel pushed by so many prosperity preachers. This is the simple "ask it and believe" doctrine. God calls it faith and trust. Ask your request, prefixed with the idea that if this be His will, and then trust and believe God will answer it.

Case in point from a few years ago, and some of you may remember this. It was late in the year, rather cold outside (40's during the day for highs) and my mom was having an especially difficult day. Eventually she exploded out the door in a huge fuss and I didn't see her for two hours. Not a sign or a hint or anything of her. She just walked out the door and I didn't see anything of her again after that. We even sent out search teams to find her, the police, everything. Still absolutely nothing. No signs, empty searches, and tons of dead ends.

Then a very wise friend of mine asked me, "Do you believe God will bring your mom home safely?" I replied, "I do." "Have you thanked Him for that?" This left me puzzled. "But she's not home yet," I replied. "Right, but have you thanked Him for bringing her home safely? Even if she's not found yet, you need to praise Him for bringing her home safely." IE, this was praise and thanksgiving for the answering of prayer BEFORE it was answered. Sorta preemptive thanksgiving. And while I didn't understand it and couldn't see how thanking God for something that hadn't happened yet could help, I did it anyways.

I still remember that day very clearly. As I was walking out the door of my apartment to check with the policeman who was helping in the search I began to pray and thank God for bringing my mom home safely. Now remember, she hadn't been found yet at this point. Even so I took my friend's advance and preemptively thanked God in advance for the fulfillment of the request. As it turns out, that prayer of thanks wasn't any more than thirty seconds old on my lips when they found her. Had I not praised God I think it could have been hours later before she'd been found, if at all.

But as soon as I praised God and thanked Him for her discovery and safe return, she was restored to me in full. Now I'm not saying that this is some kind of magic spell or hocus pocus incantation that will get all your prayers answered exactly how you want them answered. What this is, in its fullest degree, is an expression of faith and trust in God that He will fulfill your request in His way, in His time, and to His glory, and to your benefit, but not always in the way you want it. Either way, praising and thanking God that His will is done in our lives, and in the answering of the requests that we bring before Him is not only praise and thanksgiving, but a reminder and acknowledgment that He is sovereign, all powerful, and able to do all things.

So the next time to go before God and pray about something, be sure to thank Him for the answering of the request, and that it will be answered in His way, even if that answer may not appear for days, months, years, or even decades, and in some cases well beyond your lifetime. Even so, thank Him that it WILL, without a doubt, be answered and it will be according to HIS WILL. We know that His will is perfect, and thus so will be His answer whenever that may come. Even so, trust, thank, and praise God for His divine will, power, and the fulfilling of our request and needs that we bring before Him.

And if you need any further reminder of His power, consider this. If He wasn't all powerful, then our salvation would be in vain, because were He not, then we would stand the risk of losing our salvation. Because we can't means that He is powerful enough to ensure the eternality of it. So keep that in mind the next time you bow and pray to Him for some need or request in your life. All things are possible through Him who loved us.