Unanswered Prayers

Mama by the window

Hands folded

Eyes closed tight

Name on her tongue again

Same name every night

She said

“Lord

You hear me

Though I can’t see how

If You’re gonna say ‘later’

Hold me through this ‘now’”

Thank God for unanswered prayers

Every “no” that felt like air

When I thought You left me there

You were pulling up a different chair

I see mercy in the miles

In the doors that stayed shut there

Now my tears turn into smiles

Thank God for unanswered prayers

I was nineteen and angry

Truck packed

One tank of gas

Begged You for an open road

Far away from my past

But that engine coughed and sputtered

Died in Daddy’s drive

Two years later

At the altar

I watched my father cry

Thank God for unanswered prayers

Every “no” that felt like air

When I thought You left me there

You were pulling up a different chair

I see mercy in the miles

In the doors that stayed shut there

Now my tears turn into smiles

Thank God for unanswered prayers

All the jobs I never got

All the loves that never stayed

Every “why” that broke my heart

Became a better way

You were saying

“Child

I’m working

On a blessing you can’t see”

What I called disappointment

You were calling saving me (oh, You were)

Thank God for unanswered prayers

Every “no” that felt like air

When I thought You left me there

You were pulling up a different chair

I see mercy in the miles

In the doors that stayed shut there

Now my tears turn into smiles

Thank God for unanswered prayers