You call for prayer to alter the plans of men who would build beside your house, and this anxiety presses upon you. It is well that you turn to God, for He indeed works miracles great and small. But let us examine what true prayer requires, lest we render ourselves unworthy of the very mercy we seek. God will bless you, my child, if you do things worthy of blessing. You wish for the inconvenience to be taken from you. Have you first shown mercy to your neighbor? Picture the developers: what if you were in their place, laboring to complete a task and earn a living? Do to them as you would have them do to you. This is less burdensome than the fretful weight of your own heart. So before you ask God to change their plans, root out any bitterness or slanderous thought. Bite not, devour not. Keep silence rather than pass on reports, and free yourself from fear.
Do not lean on prayer alone while neglecting your own watchfulness. The affairs of each day are a storm; prayer is your weapon, but you must first make God propitious by a life of virtue. Even the great Apostle Paul did not scorn the prayers of others, yet he entreated God with a soul on fire, ready even to postpone his own heavenly rest for the sake of love. You, too, must love your neighbor as yourself, for on this hang all the commandments. Could you not find it within yourself to welcome this trial as a spark for your own salvation? A slight disturbance of your ease, and you are undone. Do not barter away the salvation of God for an easy life! Nothing is better than a good life, whether here or there. If you wake to this truth, even the building’s noise will become a teacher of patience.
The Lord Jesus prayed before Lazarus’ tomb, not from any need, but to show the people that His will and the Father’s are one. Follow that pattern. Pour out your request, yes, ask for delay or change, but seal it with, “Thy will be done.” Do not think the miracle lies only in stopping the construction. The greater miracle is a heart that says, “If this is for my refinement, I embrace it.” You fear the future, but if God is propitious, you will laugh at every trouble. Continue in prayer early and by night, but let your life be a sacrifice of praise. And if you must wait a year or two, wait as one who already possesses Christ, for whom no earthly inconvenience can quench the eternal hope. So pray, and watch, and love. Then, whether the building rises or not, you will dwell in security.