Prayer results

The month of keeping track of prayer is almost over, so I'm looking at the list and thinking that perhaps I will do this again next month, especially since several of the big things I've been praying about don't have any indication of an answer.

So far, I've had 24 things on the my list.

9 Yes. These have included things like meeting a deadline easily, a friend finding work, a tooth problem turning out not to be serious, as well as having relief from grief and anxiety for a few hours and even for one entire day.  They also included asking for a surprise and getting two very unpleasant ones in the same day.  Technically, that was a "yes" to the prayer but the answer sucked.  They also contain a partial "yes" to a problem.  The problem wasn't solved, but the financial aspect of solving it was put off for another month. So, nine prayers have had a clear "yes" as the response.

3 No.  Flat out, straight out "no."  Both had to do with healing, a prayer that I have been praying for a long time, but I had asked again, specially, and again the answer was clearly "no." No question. As strong a "no" as if a door had been slammed shut.

4 Unclear. These are things that I've been looking for an answer and there seems to have been some change in the situations, but I can't tell if the movement is toward a "yes" or a "no." These mostly have to do with relationships with other people where things have changed, but what the change means and how that might relate to my prayer just isn't clear yet. One of these is leaning so far to the "no" that it almost topples over, but since it isn't an absolute NO! yet, I'm keeping it on the unclear list.

8 Unanswered. Now granted these tend to be rather major things, along the lines of learning life's purpose and resolution of the theft that I mentioned yesterday, so I guess I have to be patient. But because so many of these "big" prayers show no sign at all of any answer, I think I'm going to transfer them to June and see what happens.

I find the results so far to be intriguing.  The "yeses" have been for things that haven't exactly been life-changing, but more "daily bread for life's journey." The "noes"--well, I don't know if my lack of faith that there could be a yes has played into it or not.  But statistically speaking, they are fewer than any other category. 

The unclear are a bit puzzling.  Both because they are unclear and because I don't quite know what to do with them: should keep praying, accept the unclarity as a form of "no" or just what?

Finally, the unanswered are just that...unanswered. No sign. No hint.  No clarity.  So the lesson here may be persistence in the prayer, until, at some point, there is a clear cut "yes" or "no" answer. I can say that if the answer to these is a "yes," all the glory and honor will have to go to God because these are not things that I can do anything about on my own.  I can't affect any movement, change or resolution in any of them, which is one reason I'm going to keep praying. Either way these go, their answer has to come from God.

When the month is over, I'll give the final update, but given that we are so close to the end, I'm not really expected a lot of change. Unless, of course, I add another prayer and get an answer before the 31st. Or unless God works a May miracle!