The Answers to All of Our Prayers

I've heard it said that there are only three answers to prayer.  The first is, "Yes, of course."  The second is, "Yes, but later."  And the third is, "No, I have something better for you. 

The Country Western singer, Garth Brooks, titled one of his most famous songs, "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers."  In it he describes his younger self's passionate plea to be able to marry a woman whom he thought would satisfy his life's desires.  But years later, he sees her and realizes how grateful he is that his prayer went unanswered and how happy he is with his own wife and the life they lead together.  I think his story was not about an unanswered prayer, but rather was about the third answer to prayer, "No, I have something better for you."

For my own part, in my early adult years, I settled into the life that other people had in mind for me.  I achieved the required level of education, got the degree and began an acceptable career.  But spirit had other ideas in mind and arranged for a course correction in the form of a major back injury that would not only change my life's direction, but would also give me the necessary tools to prepare me for what lay ahead. 

Having to spend a year in bed mending my back opened the door that allowed me to fully develop my psychic ability.  Knowing how important positive thoughts are in healing, I began with self-love.  I also spent time meditating and interpreting my dreams in the sanctuary of my home. 

I was nearly healed from the first injury when another big injury landed me in bed again.  This one was so serious that I got down on my knees and prayed, to a God that I really didn't know, asking to be spared.  I said that in exchange for granting me my life, I would do anything, whatever the Divine had in mind for me. 

This is a very powerful experience.  When we give ourselves over to Divine Will, we surrender our lives and subsequently find our true purpose.  As Gandhi poetically said, "God demands nothing less than complete self surrender as the price for the only real freedom that is worth having.  And when a person thus loses their self, that person immediately finds their self in the service of all that lives.  Such service becomes their delight and recreation.  They are now a new person, never weary of spending themselves in the service of God's creation."

Committing myself to God's will not only gave me a new and different life which was much more true to who I am, but it also taught me about the transformational power of prayer.  This was the final ingredient that allowed me to truly step into the magic of my own life.  It created for me my life's work as a Clairvoyant Healer.  It has allowed me to thrive with joy.  And it taught me the answers to all of our prayers: "Yes," "No," and, Surrender.

© Josephine Laing, 2014