But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.” // Luke 1:13
The pudgy little girl with pink glasses and fluffy hair wrote hard in her little pink and yellow diary. Pausing to think, she put the eraser to her lips and narrowed her eyes, nodded in agreement with herself, and added to her list. She was recording all the details of what she wanted in her future husband in big, juvenile cursive:
Brown eyes
Handsome
Good with his hands/can fix and build stuff
Funny
Goes to Mass
Smart
Will be a good dad
Rich
She closed the diary, held it to her chest, and prayed to God that He would give her everything she wanted in a husband.
That little girl living her best 1980s life was me, and fifteen years later I would meet the brown-eyed, hard-working, kind, pious man I prayed for. And after seventeen years of marriage I can tell you that, while we are not wealthy, we are living a life of abundant richness in blessings.
God answers prayers in His own time and in His own, great ways. Consider the words the angel spoke to Zechariah: “Do not be afraid… your prayer has been heard” (Luke 1:13). The prayer for a child is the prayer of a young man, though maybe even a middle-aged man may still hold out hope. Yet the Gospel tells us “both [Elizabeth and Zechariah] were advanced in years” (Luke 1:7). Did Zechariah still pray for a child, even as an old man? Or was the angel referring to a prayer last whispered in his heart more than a decade previously?
Perhaps God was answering all the prayers. The prayer for a son. The prayer to see his beloved Elizabeth as a mother. The prayer to be used by the Lord for His honor and glory. The prayer to not be overlooked.
I propose that today, on the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, we are reminded that God hears and remembers all our prayers. We can trust that He will answer them when and how He sees best, even if it takes decades.
Readings referenced from the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.
Bonnie Engstrom is a writer, baker, speaker, and homemaker. She lives with her husband and eight children in Illinois. Bonnie is the author of 61 Minutes to a Miracle which tells the story of her son’s miracle that was approved by Pope Francis for the beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen. She is the author of Blessed Conversations Mystery: Believe. Find out more about her here.
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