"Prayer Unanswered may be Faith Unseen"

Have you prayed and prayed and you hear NOTHING? Have you seen sign after sign that you were in "God's will" and then suddenly everything falls apart and you feel lost? Have you ever prayed something and God seems to only answer HALF of it? 

I have been praying and praying whether I am to buy a house or rent a place once my lease is up at the end of September. I had more than enough places, more than enough roommates, I was prequalified from my lender and sign after sign lead me to "THE ONE." I prayed that God would make my choice OBVIOUS and EASY. 5 Minutes later, my realtor told me a new listing of the same floor plan, in the same location, with my favorite ammenities of all of them, suddenly dropped over $10,000 just hovering over my PERFECT price... a motivated seller and a dreamy bargaining situation! I thought, this is it! This is the one! God answered my prayer IMMEDIATELY and I jumped on the process of making an offer.

Sounds like a perfect testimony to how prayer is really answered, right!?! UNTIL my roommates bailed, the lender won't count my part-time income, the loan falls apart before my eyes, and all in a matter of SECONDS, my future plans crumble before my eyes! I'm furious! I'm STRESSED to the max! I'm so LOST! I'm even embarrassed! 

Sure God made it OBVIOUS, but what happened to my request about it being "EASY"?? I'm so confused! Part of me thinks that Satan also heard my prayer, and thought that he would distract me by making me think this was part of God's plan because he made it "obvious". The other part of me thinks that God is teaching me...

I think that sometimes God DOES give us immediate answered prayers. I think He gives us signs and directions making it EASY to TRUST him. I KNOW God has ALWAYS come through for me... I've never been homeless, I've never been naked, I've never been hungry, I've never been alone in the sense of neglect. While God chooses to give us direction, I think he also calls us to have FAITH. Faith is putting trust in the UNSEEN. 

I think about Peter and when Jesus called him to get out of the boat and join him walking on WATER. 

The Message Bible says:

"Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, "Master, save me!"

 ³¹Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, "Faint-heart, what got into you?" (Matt. 14:29-31)

 The Amplified Bible and other languages translate: "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 

So, this may NOT be the "Testimony of Prayer being Answered" but it IS my "Testimony of deciding to have Faith in the Unseen." I don't know what's ahead, God hasn't made it clear, I don't know if it's going to work out to buy, or if I will continue to rent, I don't know who i'll live with or where i'll be, BUT I am deciding to have Faith that God does! Though the 'waves are tossing beneath my feet', I know that Jesus doesn't call me to have all the answers, but he DOES call me to be a woman of FAITH!