One of the best ways to discover God’s faithfulness is to write our prayers. I discovered this years ago. One afternoon I wanted to pray but was sleepy. Simply to stay awake, I began writing my prayer in my notebook. Many days later I found that prayer, and tears came to my eyes as I read. God had answered those prayers in the exact way I had requested. I never would have realized it if I had not recorded my requests.

Recently I received the following email from my nurse friend Vicki:

Yesterday our daughter Natalie and I had a WhatsApp call to talk about Emma, our 5-year-old granddaughter. We had been communicating throughout the morning. Emma started vomiting and had diarrhea since the day before, and even though Natalie had been waking her up in 15 minute increments to try to give her ice chips, jello cubes or electrolyte solution, Emma was becoming more difficult to awaken and less responsive.

Years ago I began to take very literally the command "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). If fearing Him enough to keep His commands was my only duty, then I wanted all I did to be done in response to His Word. My Bible reading was no longer just a routine. I read, eager to know what God wanted of me, seeking to apply the passages to my daily life.

I spoke with a friend I had not seen in years. She said, “I’m 74 and I work at WalMart to pay expenses, but that’s all right. I’m able and I enjoy it. I’m happy.”

A couple needing spiritual help came to visit, and at the close of the evening, my husband led us in prayer. For a few fleeting seconds, I felt that if I also led in prayer the Lord would be pleased. But I resisted the impulse to pray.

One Easter morning, I awoke early with a heavy burden. I slipped away to my study, and as I prayed, a song began to play in my mind:

A friend shared that one morning after she awakened, she said, “Jesus, I’m in You and You’re in me, and we’re both in the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In his book Praise Papers, S. A. Keen tells of a time when even though others considered his ministry to be a great success, he felt discouraged fearing his efforts were inadequate.