Prayerful Malingering

My heart was palpitating while writing this article. I had experienced a simple miracle this morning, which made me literally hop on the stairs out from the office. I clasped my lips from beaming like an innocent child who had just received a favorite toy. Call me guilty of malingering, I just couldn’t help but share my experience while it’s still fresh. I took a break of what I was doing and wrote this journal. Honestly, I was tempted to post my exhilaration on Facebook but I thought it would be much worse than malingering.

I encountered a little work-related problem since last week. And problems no matter how minute have its bug on me. I couldn’t think clearly, I couldn’t sleep well. I frown easily. With problems bugging in my head, my face becomes a little monstrous-looking. I think it is true for others as well (hopefully except for the monstrous look).

It was 12 noon when I went to my room to take a nap. Then I dropped by the IT office for some work-related matters, which made me realize that, my visit made my ‘bug’ even worse.

Out of exasperation, as I entered my room, I said “Lord, I do not know what to do!” A few minutes later, I realized I had fallen asleep despite the uncomfortable heat in my room. The air-con was buzzing though. Then, an idea came into my mind like a flash of light. “Thank you Lord,” I said, rushing back to the office beaming. I shared the idea to my boss, who then said it was good. Then everything related to the “small problem” became smooth-sailing.

I share this experience not merely for blabbering purposes. What I experienced is a vivid proof that God answers our prayers no matter how jokey we say it. I remember telling my siblings that it is really important to pray. Everything that I have now is in my prayers. Whatever we need or even want in life, we have to ask for it. Of course it is important to work for the things we want but there are things that are beyond our control. We have to lift them up to God.

There are only three answers to our prayers. One is simply a yes. It’s like God tells us “Sure, why not? Here it is!” Second answer is not now, maybe later. Sometimes it is hard to accept that some of our prayers do not have an immediate answer. The waiting period strengthens our patience as well as our perseverance. Lastly, some answers to our prayers is “No, not that. Something else is better for you.”