Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7)

“The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” wrote the apostle James in his epistle. And history has proved him to be right. Prayer is such a powerful force in the world and far too many people fail to resort to it or rely on it.

Many people monitor their prayer life through the use of a prayer diary or some similar physical measuring device. Compiling a list of answered prayers will remind us of God’s mighty works on a personal level. Keeping a list of things we desire and people we seek help for is a definite means of covering all the things we feel the need to speak to God about.

I have a friend who keeps a “prayer jar.” She is always more than willing to add items to her daily prayer list on behalf of friends and acquaintances and is quite determined and thorough in her dedication to praying for people and situations that she has promised she would. She said that after praying a month for certain things, she writes the request on a piece of paper and places it in the prayer jar, almost as if she were retiring that need. It is, she says, a letting go so that God can work on it. At the end of the year, it is amazing to open the jar and to realize how many prayers were answered and to examine exactly how the answers came about.

Acknowledging the answers to our prayers is a means of instilling within ourselves a sense of gratitude for a God Who cares so much for us and also serves to bolster our trust and faith in an unfailing God.

God of faithfulness and compassion, may our eyes be opened to the multitude of answered prayers, those actually prayed and those we haven't even spoken yet!