“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans for hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11.

I am sure many of us have heard or seen this verse before, whether it was used in sermons or tattooed on someone's arm. It is a great verse to look at when times get tough, and we start losing hope. Personally, it is my favorite verse because it reminds me that God is in control and that He has a great plan for me even when times get tough, which the past several months have been. The past several months there has been a lot of loss, stress, and unanswered questions in my life, and it became easy to lose hope that anything was going to work out. My husband and I prayed daily for our future for months, specifically about if we should buy a house, if so, what house, or get an apartment and if so, where. But we still weren’t getting any answers on what we should do. We considered several options, looked at many places, but none of them seemed to work out. The stress levels grew, but we continued to pray. It wasn’t until one day when I was driving to work that I remembered the verse, Luke 11: 9-10. "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened". As I was reflecting on that verse, I thought about how all our prayers we had been praying weren’t us asking God for a specific answer, but more of a general one. I know Pastor Mark talked recently about this, how we should be specific in our prayers, but not too specific that we are being over the top. So, I decided then I was going to pray a prayer that was asking God for one house we looked at in particular that we really liked and was in our budget, which is rare to find these days with how the market is. The crazy thing was, we had already put an offer on the house and got declined, so I felt a little silly asking for the house we got rejected on. But I did. I asked God for that house and left it at that. If you are familiar with the housing market right now, you know it's crazy. Houses are selling quickly and above asking price and being bought in cash, which isn’t something we have the luxury of doing. Anyway, fast-forward to a week later, and I reached out to our realtor again and asked her if she heard anymore on the house. Now, this isn’t a story where we get a call and the seller changed their mind and suddenly accepted our first offer, but they did accept our second one, and it was accepted under asking price which in itself is amazing! I just have to wonder if God was waiting for me to ask Him for a house, and not just praying for guidance on it. So, if there is something you are waiting for, and you haven’t asked God specifically for it yet, give it a try! You never know what He has planned for until you ask.

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