Unbelievable?

The truth about our prayers

The other day I was reading some interesting words about prayer in Colossians 4:2,

Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.

I've always put emphasis on the part about being thankful. This time my eyes caught the part about being alert. Keep alert as you pray... This week I have been listening to my own prayers and the prayers of others as well and I started to wonder: do we believe in what we pray? Are we indeed alert in case our prayers get answered? Ever so often prayers do get answered and we can hear people exclaim: I don't believe this ... this is unbelievable ... etc. How come we act surprised if something we asked for actually comes to pass? Why use that word (of all words) 'unbelievable' so easily? Praying is connected to believing. It does not make sense to pray for healing for example and an hour later tell someone you have something incurable. It does not make sense to pray for peace of mind and an hour later tell someone how stressed out you are. That way our prayers are futile. We cannot pray one thing and say another! Please, let us be alert as we pray, realizing that what we are asking will eventually be answered by God. We do have a true reason to be thankful!