I’m not sure if this story is true or not, but it provides some insight into God’s answering prayer.
Handkerchief Delivery
Here’s the story:
There were times when even Corrie Ten Boom felt cut off from the Lord. In such a time of despair, she once said to the Lord, “Have you forgotten your Corrie?”
In the following story Corrie tells about a time when she and her sister Betsie were in the concentration camp in Ravensbrück, and she had this terrible cold. She told her sister Betsie how much she just wished she had a handkerchief. Of course, handkerchiefs were impossible to find in that place. Betsie then suggested that Corrie pray for one, and Corrie just laughed at that ridiculous idea.
So, Betsie prayed. She said, “Lord, you see my sister, Corrie, here, has a very bad cold, and in Jesus’ name, I ask you TODAY for a handkerchief for her. Amen.”
Corrie tells that, shortly after that, she heard someone call out her name. She went to stand near the window of the barracks, where she saw a friend of hers, also a prisoner, and who worked in the hospital in Ravensbrück.
“Here,” her friend said. “Take this! I’m bringing you a little present.” She pressed it into Corrie’s hand.
“I opened the little package,” said Corrie, “and it was a handkerchief!”
“How did you know I needed a handkerchief? Did you KNOW that I have a cold?” Corrie asked.
“No,” said her friend. I was sewing handkerchiefs from an old piece of sheet, and there was a voice in my heart that said, ‘Bring a handkerchief to Corrie ten Boom!’”
“That little hanky, made from an old piece of a sheet, was a message out of the Heavens to me!” tells Corrie. “It told me that there is a Heavenly Father who hears, when on a tiny planet, the Earth, one of his children prays for an impossible, small thing; a handkerchief. And the Heavenly Father says to one of his other children, ‘Bring a handkerchief to Corrie ten Boom!’”
Corrie continued, “That is something the Apostle Paul calls ‘The foolishness of God’… that is so much wiser than the wisdom of mankind. You can read it yourself at home. It’s found in 1st Corinthians, chapter 1 and 2.”
“Does God answer all our prayers? Well, most of the time He does,” she continued. “Why? you might ask, not every request we make? Well, you see, because He knows what we do not know. He knows everything. Someday, when we are in Heaven, we will thank him for all the answered prayers, (where he gave us what we asked), and maybe even more for the unanswered prayers. Then we will see it from his point of view, and that God never made any mistakes.”
Why did God answer this seemingly inconsequential prayer and not the one for rescue, healing, or the saving of a marriage?
The Answers To Prayers
When I first read this story, God revealed something to me that was related to a question I had been asking Him for a while: why do you answer some prayers but not others?
Every Christian, and even non-believers, has asked this question, because it is a good question. We see some prayers being answered, but others not. We see seemingly insignificant prayers being answered, but answers to prayers for serious circumstances are either silent or “No.”
It is reasonable to ask, “Why?”
Why do you answer some prayers but not others?
I had received important answers to this question in the past. Here is a summary of some of them:
The Prayers Of Immature Believers
For example, God answers personal prayers for immature Christians more often than mature Christians. This helps build the faith of the immature. The faith of the mature Christian is pretty well-founded. If God were to say “No” to a young Christian, they might not understand and their faith could falter. Mature Christians can receive a “No” answer and understand that God has a good reason.
Selfish Prayers
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
James 4:3 (NIV)
Not all prayers you pray for yourself are selfish. They can be unselfish if they are a means to a good end. For example, if I am to preach to God’s people, I have to have a healthy voice. If I am to reach a certain mission destination, I need protection during travel. If I pray for a healthy voice or travel protection, it is for the service of the gospel. That is not necessarily a selfish prayer.
A prayer for healing or rescue can be selfish or unselfish. Even when it is unselfish, God still might reject it because He sees the bigger picture.
We have an example in the Bible where a prayer for healing by a powerful preacher of the Gospel was denied by God. But notice, the pray-er was Paul, a very mature and strong Christian. God answered him: “No. My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:8, 9).
We have an example in the Bible where a prayer of rescue was denied. The pray-er was Jesus, the Son of God Himself, who was about to be tortured and murdered at the hands of evil men. Jesus asked if there was any other way to accomplish God’s will. God said “No.”
God’s Agents on Earth
Another lesson on prayer God showed me was He answers most prayers through His people. That is, God doesn’t manipulate physics or chemistry or the natural laws to answer prayers as much as He simply makes requests of those who listen to Him. Many prayers are answered through those who love, trust, and obey God.
In the story above, notice that God answered the prayer by getting the assistance from one of His followers. He did not cause a wind to blow a handkerchief to His praying child. He did not make one instantly appear in her hand. This was nothing more than the miracle of God asking something of one of His children and that child responding with love.
By answering the prayer through another believer, God affects multiple relationships: He draws closer to the person who answered. How wonderful it must feel to do something and be told it is an answer to prayer. Do you think that believer will want to do it again?
Those who love God love to help others.
He draws closer to the person whose prayer was answered. Look how she responded. She glorified God and praised His name. It was a wonderful, public testimony about God’s care for His children in every circumstance. Answered prayer like this is especially effective for immature (by which I simply mean new or inexperienced) Christians, because it bolsters their faith. They feel the love of God in a simple answered prayer.
Finally, He draws closer to those who seek Him because of the testimony they hear about a God who answers prayers.
What would have happened if the lady with the handkerchief had decided to ignore God’s request? Do you think God would have done something else to answer the prayer?
Can you think of any time God might have made a simple request of you that you rejected?
“Give that man a dollar.”
“Smile at that lady.”
“Invite that person to church.”
In each case, you could be the answer to a prayer. We are to work with God to bring peace and joy to the people around us–our friends, family, and neighbors. God will often-times prompt us to act. As you spend time with God, you will get to know Him more. As you get to know Him more, His voice will become more recognizable to you. When you recognize the voice of God, His requests will become clearer, and you will have more confidence in performing acts of love at His request.
Level of Difficulty
There is another revelation about prayer that God showed me with the story above: some prayers are extremely easy to answer.
The Bible tells us God loves giving us good gifts.
As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.
Matthew 7:11 (CEV)
He loves answering our prayers. He loves, even more, working with us to answer prayers!
For simple prayers–for example, for a handkerchief–it is easy to get one of His followers to carry out the deed and, thereby, answer that prayer. That request required asking one free-will human being who already has a relationship with Him to carry out a simple deed. In the case of the story above, the hearer did what God requested and helped answer the prayer. God was glorified.
In other cases, the free wills of many human beings have to be considered. God never coerces to get His way. So, when you ask for a particular job, He works with what He has. There might be many other souls vying for that job, some who might need it more than you. Will you distrust God if you do not get the job? There might be a wicked person set up in the HR department who will not heed God’s request to give you that job.
Are All Things Possible?
There is a verse in the Bible often taken out of context or misunderstood. In Luke 1:37, some translations say, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.” Many come to believe this means God can do anything. That is not what the verse says, however, and if it did, we would have a real problem.
For example, Hebrews 6:18 says “it is impossible for God to lie.” So, both of these verses cannot be true at the same time. Either nothing is impossible and God can lie, or some things are impossible, such as God being able to lie.
The verse in Luke 1:37 is rendered this way in some versions: “For no word from God will ever fail.” This makes perfect sense and resolves any contradiction. If God says something will happen, it will happen. If God speaks something, it is the truth. If God acts, it is love.
Let us imagine you want a job at XYZ Corporation. If you really want it, maybe you will not get it for 6 or 12 months or longer! God has to be working behind the scenes for you, touching the hearts of those “in the way.” It might not be until years later when the avenue is finally opened for you to get that job. Maybe you will never get that job and will have to settle for another job at another company.
The point is, some requests are easy to fulfill. Others require working with a multitude of variables, some of which will actually be aligned against God. If He can do so in His power of love, and it is good for you, He will get it accomplished. But sometimes, God will not be able to answer a prayer. Whether He says “No” for your good or “No” because it is impossible, it is irrelevant. You can trust God no matter what.