For the Teesside Study Day we were asked to send in questions on the subject relating to Paul and Prayer so that they could be translated into Farsi. One of the questions I sent in was 'What is our attitude when God doesn't answer prayer?' but I asked for it to be amended to 'What is our attitude when Prayers are answered in unexpected ways?'. The reason is that God does answer prayer, but maybe not how we expect.

When we ask for something in prayer, the fundamental aspect is; that God has a plan and the outcome will always be part of that plan.

Some people look at prayer as some sort of fast-food service; you place your order then wait a few minutes for it to be delivered. But prayers sometimes take a while to be granted and some won't be granted because they are inappropriate (James 4:3).

The topic for the afternoon session was looking at prayers that Paul asked for himself and we have 3 fairly distinct categories, but they all have something in common; they were answered but maybe not in the way expected.

The first category we'll look at was that Paul asked for people to pray for his safety. (Romans 15:30-33, 2 Thessalonians 3:1,2) The interesting fact is that all the prayers that fall into this category are on the homeward leg of his third missionary journey and even during the hardships and persecutions of his previous ones there's no accounts of him asking for this before then. He asked for prayers that he would be kept safe from unbelievers and evil men in Jerusalem.

And he was - so much so that he had 200 solders, 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen, prison bars and guards to protect him from those who sought to harm him.

The second category was to help him to preach and spread the word. (Ephesians 6:19,20, Colossians 4:2-4) And again this was granted in ways he probably never dreamed of. He got to talk to Proconsuls, kings, rulers and other people he would never have normally got to speak to. There's an even more important aspect of this that the two sections of scripture mention; he wrote those wonderful letters that are they to teach us and to spread the word over the centuries. Would we have this record if it wasn't for his period in chains? Probably not. So instead of preaching to hundreds, he got to teach thousands, even millions.

Paul even says this in Philippians 1:12-14

But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

The third category was for his health. (Acts 9:11, 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). This may have related to his eyesight (Galatians 5:15) or some other ailment. But how this prayer was granted also has much more important aspects. It increased his faith and allowed him to look towards Christ's kingdom, to run the race and to give him an inner strength to do wonders. His spiritual health was more important than his physical health. No matter how physically strong or fit we are, it's not perfected yet, yet will be in Christ's kingdom. Isaiah 35 has these wonderful words;

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing;

So we can ask God for anything in prayer, but God knows what we need rather than what we want. So we need to remain patient, because at the coming of Christ we will have blessings forever more, even more than we can imagine or ask for.