What answers to prayer have you had in your life today? This week? This month? We often like to point back to what God did for us many years ago or what He is going to do for us in the future, but often forget to store up the precious answers He gives us, both big and small, in our present.
My wife and I moved to Ballarat, Victoria, in December last year. As a ministerial intern eager to learn and on our first calling in ministry, I’ve been examining the practices of prominent ministers.
Pastor Pavel Goia’s emphasis on prayer has deeply inspired me, and I have committed to setting aside a significant amount of time daily for prayer. As a result I have seen a number of incredible answers to prayer.
In 2016 my grandfather, a professional apiarist, gave me a couple of beehives and I have since taken up beekeeping as a hobby.
When we moved to Ballarat we were hoping the bees would collect a bit more honey over summer, but they did not do well here. In fact, between late December and the end of February I lost the honey I had in the hives when I moved them, as well as almost half of the bee population in each hive. My bees were really struggling.
One of my favourite aspects of ministry is visitations. I like to take a jar of our honey to each family I visit. But within a few months I was running out of honey.
I decided to bring my honey situation to God and ask Him to give me more honey to use for ministry.
Two days after my prayer I got a call from one of the members at Ballarat, who suggested I move my bees to a property about 45 minutes away from where I live.
Ok, it can’t hurt, my bees can’t go much worse than they have gone so far, I thought. Maybe God is answering my prayer for more honey.
But it was now March and autumn, which in Ballarat is like winter. Bees collect most of their honey in spring when there are many flowers. Honey also gets gathered during summer, but production usually goes way down in autumn, especially in Victoria. Since I had lost honey and bees in summer, I am ashamed to say my faith relating to my prayer request was small.
I moved my two hives and prayed for the best. When I went to check three or four weeks later, I was truly amazed. They were both packed completely full of honey! I had never seen them so full before. In fact, they produced around 125kg of honey in less than a month, which is more than they would normally get in an entire year.
Truly God is faithful and cares about even the trivial things in our lives. 1 John 5:14 tells us if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. Let’s never forget to ask, and always remember His amazing answers.
Marius Jigau is an intern minister in Ballarat, Victoria.
