I have had prayers answered. In each case they where the outcome would be
beneficial to someone else in need, they have been answered instantly.
The only way to know for sure that a prayer in being answered is by the timing,
in my experience.
I posted a thread on this once. If you actually take the time to pray about little things, you'll be amazed at how often He will answer them. You can't expect each and every prayer to be answered, because all true prayer is prayed in the Name of Christ (which basically means that you're asking for His will to be done, not yours). Sometimes we pray, asking for things that are
not in His will, and they don't get answered and this causes people to get downcast and lose faith in prayer.
People need to remember that God is not a vending machine. He doesn't mind us asking Him for little things, but yet every time we say a prayer asking for something, we need to realize that His will be done, not ours. And if you want something, I find the best way to go about asking for it, is to include the phrase "nevertheless, Your will be done, not mine" in the prayer to reinforce the point that this isn't about what
we want; it is about us making
requests for the purpose of bringing Him glory.
Now, on the subject of praying for little things, I remember one day I was at work, and my breaktime was quickly approaching, and I had nothing to eat, and the place I work at sells food... but junk food. I was really in the mood for a real good meal, a cooked and prepared one. But good luck of That happening. I browsed over the various frozen junk that we sell, and I was like "Lord... I really don't feel like eating this junk today... I can't decide... help me out, would You please?"
Well, just before my first break (there were two breaks, two hours apart) I noticed an advertisement on the bulletin board for a local BBQ place. They weren't open at the time, but I asked the manager for a copy of that advertisement for the break room, and when I did they went "Oh, I needed to hang this Fox's Pizza menu in there too..." and then the idea hit me out of nowhere... "Order some pizza!" So that's exactly what I did, and I wound up not only getting myself some supper, but I took easily enough home for the other two family members as well (who hadn't eaten yet which was unusual as I got off work at 7PM, they normally eat at 4PM-ish).
Such a little thing to pray for, but He answered it anyways. In fact, it worked out well for all three of us. I don't think very many people
understand just how He works in our lives. It's not always the huge life-and-death situations, it's the little things day to day that He does in our lives, that if you look... you'll notice. Uncanny coincidences that don't seem like coincidences, especially when they happen far too often to be just mere coincidences. He is right there beside each and every one of us, though sadly many people don't know or even recognize it, and they go about their day, rarely ever giving thanks for the little things He does in our lives, and this includes many Christians as well (the ones who only remember God on Sundays, for example).
Jesus walks with us each and every day, not
just for an hour on Sunday Morning.
