I walked into the reception area. My heart leaped around like a
baby goat. Another job interview. I’d lived in the Houston area for year and my
new engineering degree had burned a hole in my pocket.

I’d prayed, a lot. While I scoured newspapers for jobs, I
prayed. When I filled out an application, I prayed. Every time I headed in for
an interview…well, you get the picture. Even
so, the jobs always went to someone else. I was pretty discouraged.

That morning, I prayed extra hard. I had an interview with a
company that contracted engineers to work at NASA. Wow, wouldn’t that be cool? There
were a few openings for engineers to design experiments and to help train the
astronauts to perform them while on the shuttle. It almost took my breath away!

I sat in the reception area and squirmed. I chatted with the
lady at the desk and commented that I’d prayed all the way there. She assured me the Lord had just the right
job for me and said she’d pray during my interview.

It went great! So great, in fact, that they offered me the
job on the spot. Can you start on Monday? I stared at my future boss in shock
and I said – get this – “I have to pray
about it.”

I went back into the reception area and the lady excitedly
asked me how it went. I told her I’d been offered the job and I was going to
pray about it. She looked at me like I’d suddenly sprouted a giraffe’s head. “Honey,
you’ve been praying! You’ve prayed like crazy. Don’t you recognize His answer
when it’s staring you in the face? You get right back in there and take this
job!”

As her words sunk into my brain, my soon-to-be boss came into
the room. I turned and said, “Is that job still open?” (Duh, it had been all of
2 minutes.) Two hours later, I sat in my car with paperwork in my lap that said
I was an engineer at NASA!!

Now, what’s wrong with this story? I prayed diligently. I
asked for wisdom and guidance. Every time I walked into an interview room, I prayed
for clear direction. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, I
focused so hard on prayer that I forgot to keep my eyes open for His answer.
If not for that sweet lady, I would’ve walked away without a job – an amazing
job that took me from exhilaration to tragedy and back again over the next nine
years.

How often do we do that? We pray faithfully. We might write
our prayer requests in a journal. We go back and pray through them every
morning. They stay on our hearts days on end, perhaps years go by.

Then, an opportunity comes along. Do we embrace it or stare at it blindly?

We pray for healing in a relationship and a chance comes to visit
that person. Do we pray, “God, should I talk to them about this or just chit-chat
and see how it goes?” Or “Thank You! Soften our hearts and guide my words.”

We pray for a used car that fits our tight budget and the
perfect one appears on a sales lot. “God, this is great! It’s just what I need
and I can afford it. Should I buy it?” Or “Praise You, Lord! You answer prayer!!”

We’re unemployed and pray diligently for a job opportunity.
An interview goes great and the perfect job’s ours for the taking. “Lord, this
is amazing! I can’t believe it! I’m going home and pray about it some more.” Or
“Lord, Your goodness is beyond words! I’m in awe of You. Thank You!”

Prayer changes us. It teaches us to

I realize this might be a bit simplistic. Of course, the “perfect” thing might not be God’s answer. But, as we bring our requests before Him, pray for eyes to see His answer. If you do, you’ll recognize it when it comes along.

Cling to your faith.

Stand on the confidence that He hears.

Be alert for His answer.

Praise Him when it comes.

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