It’s kind of a silly question. If someone asked you, “Do you expect your prayers to be answered?” You might reply, “It would be really nice if they did.” Shouldn't we have the faith to say, "Of course I do!"

If we take a step back and think about how we are praying and what we expect to happen as a result of our prayers, we might be surprised at what we uncover.

Sometimes a prayer can seem to be a plea with our Father to do something for us or heal someone we love.

Jesus made it clear in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Isn’t it true that we can not trust and fear at the same time? Wouldn’t you rather take your problem and trust it to God and know with every ounce of your being that it will be taken care of? Don’t you want the words of Jesus to come true when he said it will be given to you, you will find, doors will be opened?

Being a math teacher, I tend to visualize things with numbers.

Think about the mathematical problem 1+1=2. You know with absolute certainty that if you have one child and then you give birth to one more child, you now have two children. You know the law of mathematics rules with scientific certainty that 1+1=2. Not just now, but always. The rule is established. We can be certain of the result of adding one object to one more object and ending up with two of that object.

How about 1-1=0?  If we have one flower and we give it to someone else, we are certain that we now have zero flowers. We gave it away. It is gone. We know it is a fact that one take away one will always equal zero.

Wouldn’t it be helpful to have just as much certainty that when we have one problem and we give it to God we now have no problem? We had one. We gave it away. We now have trusted God to take care of the problem and fix it. We can’t give one away and still have one. When we give one away, we have zero.

When we pray to God and trust Him with our problems and then continue worrying about it, it’s the same as trying to say 1-1=1.  We know we can’t give something away and still have it.  But that’s what we try to make happen when we pray without trusting.

This is good in theory, but how do we put it to practice? The next time you pray today, force yourself to really believe. As you pray and give your problem to God, go ahead and give gratitude that He has heard you and already knows the outcome. Give gratitude that you no longer need to spend one more instant worrying about it because you trusted your issue to the most powerful force there is.

When the problem comes back to your thought and the fear starts to creep back in, declare what Jesus taught and say to yourself, “"I have asked and I will receive. I am seeking and I will find. I have knocked and it will be opened unto me."” And then smile.

Smile because you believe in the power of prayer. Smile because you trust your problems and your life to your heavenly Father. And, lastly, smile because deep down, you know your prayer will be answered. It may not be in the exact way you were imagining, but it will be answered.

The next time someone asks, “"Do you believe your prayers will be answered?"” You will be able to answer with a resounding, "Yes!"