I heard every word.

Nine days of praying the exact same thing is kind of...weird. I say the exact same words. I listen. And then I go on. But, it's important. I've prayed for it over time, for a long time, but this time I'm praying every day until God does something or He speaks to me clearly. Some things are worth praying for every single day. Finally I can say that I'm praying about it more than I'm talking about it to other people. And I think talking to other people about things can be therapeutic, or they can have good advice or be able to pray for you better as well, but sometimes only God can change things and talking to Him is more important than talking to other people about it.

If there were a scale in heaven that measured what we prayed for, the amount of time spent on it, it would be interesting to see in heaven. God would stand beside us and say, "Well, I know this was important to you, but you didn't really pray much about it. I had things to tell you about it, but you weren't really able to listen." I hear people say how some people don't receive because they don't ask, or they ask too small, but I am not one of those people. I ask for big things, important things, impossible things. I pray big. I don't generally fit under the category of "didn't receive because didn't ask."

"And this you prayed for a lot. I heard every word, I saw every tear. I was working and making things happen that you didn't even know about. Just because you didn't see it, didn't mean I wasn't answering your prayers, or making things happen behind the scenes so that I could eventually give you what you so desired. You may think those prayers were wasted, but no prayer was wasted." I can imagine saying that, and I can't imagine the joy we will feel when He shows us what our prayers did! Not only for ourselves, but for others, in spiritual warfare, in the Kingdom of God.