Prayers Answered Through My Mother's Dementia

Have you ever prayed persistently for years, only to miss God's answer when it finally comes? In this episode, Julie shares a powerful revelation God gave her after her mother's passing—that He had faithfully answered prayers she'd been praying for years, but she hadn't recognized it.

Drawing from the story of Peter's miraculous prison escape in Acts 12, Julie explores how even the early church struggled to believe their prayers were answered when Peter stood knocking at their door. She shares specific prayers from her journals—prayers for her mother's peace, for family healing, and for the ability to love unconditionally—and how God answered every one through her mother's year-long journey with dementia.

This episode will encourage you to:

• Continue praying persistently, even when you don't see immediate results
• Look back at your own life to recognize where God has been working all along
• Stay spiritually alert and watchful for God's movement in your circumstances
• Trust that your heartfelt prayers are never vain repetitions

If you've been praying for something for years without seeing God move, this episode will give you hope and help you open your eyes to see His faithful answers.

Resources: 

Finding Peace Through Dementia 

https://confidenceingod.com/resources/ 

Hey Dad, It's Me! 

Episode Timeline:

1. Introduction 0:00
2. The Conversation in the Kitchen 1:07
3.  The Story of Peter's Prison Escape 2:39
4.  They Couldn't Believe Their Prayers Were Answered 3:48
5.  My Prayers from the Notebooks 5:21
6.  God Answered and I Didn't Recognize It 7:09
7.  Takeaways: Be Persistent in Prayer 8:21
8.  Closing Prayer 10:48
9. Resources and Call to Action 12:00

Total Episode Length: 14:09 

Transcript

0:00

Hello and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. Today I am going to share with you something God showed me as I was responding to a dear friend who had offered me her condolences after my mom had passed away. I'm not going to share with you the details of my mom's passing because I testified of God's goodness throughout her year long journey through dementia, and as she transitioned to her eternal reward in the last episode of this podcast, which is titled Finding Peace Through Dementia, A Testimony of God's Goodness. I will drop a link to that episode in the show notes in case you haven't listened to it, and would like to hear a bit more about how God was so good to Mom, my brother and me throughout the difficult year of dementia. But today I'm going to share what God showed me as relates to the prayers I had been praying for many years. So on Sunday, I had arrived at church early, which I generally do, just because of responsibilities that I have there, and a dear friend of mine who also generally arrives early because of her responsibilities was there working in the kitchen. She stopped to offer me her condolences and to chat a bit about my mom's passing. So I had shared with her in response to her condolences much of what I had shared in that last episode of this podcast, proclaiming all of the amazing things God had done throughout the year for my mom and for my brother and me. He gave mom peace throughout that year; peace like she had never known throughout the years that I can remember, and he gave my brother and me a deep love for her in spite of all the many years of estrangement and a very hurtful upbringing with her. But in the midst of my sharing how God had been so good to us throughout that year, I said,"He did things I would never have even thought to pray for." As soon as I said it, God quickened something in my spirit. He seemed to ask me,"Don't you remember the prayers over the past several years?" Then I remembered the story about Peter in Acts 12:5-17. In verse five, it says,"So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound with two chains and there were centuries in front of the door, guarding him. And an angel came and the angel woke Peter up and he released his chains and the angel told him to get dressed and follow him. What did Peter do? He got dressed and he went out and he followed him. But listen to this, that is said in verse nine,"He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but that he was seeing a vision." Peter wasn't even sure the prayers were being answered, but once outside the prison, Peter knew with certainty that the Lord sent the angel to rescue him. Now what I really want to focus on is verses 12 through 16, and I'm going to read those to you."When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her,'You are out of your mind.' But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying,'It is his angel!' But Peter continued knocking and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed." The people who had been praying could not believe that their prayers were answered. Instead, they thought Peter had died and it was his angel standing there. They could not recognize that what was happening was God's answer to their prayers. So many times I have heard people preach about how those who had been praying couldn't believe that Peter was standing there alive. They apparently didn't really believe God would hear and answer their prayers. And there I stood in the church kitchen and for the first time I realized God had answered the many prayers I had prayed for years for my mom and our family. To give you an example of my prayers, I went back and looked through some of my notebooks. I tend to write my prayers down and I have done it for years. I do it because it keeps my mind from wandering while I'm praying. I found one that really shows where my heart was and how I was praying for all these years. This one happens to be dated February 14, 2023."Lord, please be with Mom. You know where she is physically and mentally and emotionally. You know her needs better than I do, even better than she does. Please show her that you are all she needs. You are more than enough for her. Be her constant companion. Give my brother and sister and me a desire to love Mom, regardless of mom's inability to show us love, appreciation, or respect. Help us to love her unconditionally and to know how to help her in her last years. When the time comes for you to call her home, please let it be peacefully and painlessly." I had also been praying throughout those years that we all would find forgiveness, that we would forgive each other, and that our family relationships would be healed. And when it happened, when God answered this, when God gave her peace. When God showed her, and I know He showed her that He was all she needed because when I found her Bible and saw all that she had been highlighting and writing in her Bible these years, I knew He was showing her that He was enough. And He gave my brother and me the ability to love her, not just by feeling, but to love her in action through that last year of her dementia. When it happened, when God answered these prayers, these very specific prayers, I didn't even recognize it. Just like the people who didn't believe Peter was standing outside their door after they had been earnestly praying for his release and wellbeing. But now I can proclaim like the Psalmist did in Psalm 66:19,"But truly, God has listened; He has attended to the voice of my prayer!" Here are some takeaways from what God showed me last Sunday as I proclaimed,"I wouldn't have even thought to pray for the things He has done" when I actually had been praying for those things for years. First, be persistent in your prayers. Be persistent until you see God move in your situation, just as Jesus taught his disciples in Luke 11:5-9. And continue in prayer, but also watch as Paul tells us in Colossians 4:2. To watch means in this context to be spiritually alert, sober, and to pay attention to what's going on around you and do it with Thanksgiving. Aren't you glad God answers prayers even when we become distracted or maybe even tired of praying for these things over and over again, and then we don't even recognize his work? I hope you will look at your own situations. Those prayers that you have been praying for years, but don't see God working, they have not become vain repetition that Jesus warns us about in Matthew 6:7, when he says,"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as a heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words." Just because you continue persistently to pray about some situations in your life doesn't mean that your words are useless, idle words that lack sincerity and heartfelt feeling, which would be vain repetitions. No. Keep praying persistently. Keep praying with hope. Keep praying with thanksgiving. Keep praying with faith. They are not vain repetitions. And then open your eyes, look into the past to see if in fact God has been working, but you didn't recognize it. Remember that God is faithful to work everything, every difficult situation, out for good according to Romans 8 28. And I want to close in prayer for you today: Precious Jesus, how I thank you for your faithfulness. How I thank you that you ask us to cast our cares on you because you do care about us and you want to fulfill all of our needs. You want to answer those prayers. You want to take care of those cares. I pray for each person listening to this today that they will look back and they will see just as I did,"Oh wow, look what God has been doing all along." And if they don't see something yet, help them to keep looking forward, to keep anticipating and watching for your movement, watching for your answers to their prayers. I thank you Lord Jesus. For every person who's listening to these words and that you are speaking to them. I thank you for how you show us the things you would have us notice, realize, and those things that deepen our relationship with you. In Jesus' name, amen. If you are struggling, having confidence that God is hearing your prayers and that he will answer them, I invite you to check out a resource I have available for you titled How to Have Confidence In Your Prayer Life. You can have immediate access to it at confidenceingod.com/resources. It will help you build confidence that God will answer your prayers. I'll drop a link to it in the show notes. Just click on it and click on the resource. It is available freely to you. Also, if you would like a book that is an example of how you can reflect on your past to see what God has been doing for you all along, please check out"Hey Dad, It's Me! Discover the Father Who Loves and Protects You." In this book, I share all the things God had done throughout my own life that I didn't recognize until after my earthly father passed away. It is available on Amazon and I'll leave a link to it in the show notes also. Well, that's it for today. If you find this podcast episode helpful, please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out and share it with your friends and loved ones. Also, it would be great if you would rate or review our show. That way more people can find out about it. I would really love to hear from you. In fact, I want to thank all of those who have reached out to me as they have listened to past episodes. I really appreciate your comments and I do pray for you. If you have a testimony about how God has answered your prayers, even if you didn't recognize that immediately, please reach out to me and share it. If you just need prayer, please reach out to me and let me support you in prayer. Until next time, let's be confident in this that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.