Prayer. We all approach it in different ways. Sometimes we think that God is only concerned about the big things in our life. We think that the small, insignificant things aren’t important to Him. We can handle those things on our own. We don’t need to bother Him because He has more important things to tend to, but what if I told you that’s just not true. What if you lived your life in such a way that you knew that He cared about all of your needs. Not just the big ticket items, but everything – even those things that serve no eternal value or purpose.

Well, I just experienced this in my life. I had a front row seat to God’s goodness to me in something that was only important to me and wouldn’t change the trajectory of mankind, but it mattered to me. So listen to my story, and let God begin to change your concept of prayer and approaching God in your time of need.

My son and I were just finishing up from our meal at a local restaurant. We had spent the evening enjoying catching up on what was going on in each other’s lives, as well as listening to him share of all of the music that he’d been listening to and all of the concerts and artists that he wanted to one day hear in person. It had been such a fun evening together listening to him share of his hopes and dreams for the future. It was just the perfect mother son time with just the two of us.

Well, here is where it gets rather interesting. I reached down to get my keys out of my purse, and you guessed it. They were no where to be found. I looked all in my purse and everywhere in the restaurant, but they had somehow disappeared. I had an extra key in my purse to my van, so that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that all of my other keys on my “Draw Near” Key chain that I had won from Proverbs 31 ministries was gone. They had vanished. So not only were my keys misplaced, I also had misplaced a very special item. I had won this key chain at a time in my life when I greatly needed the encouragement, so this particular item was of sentimental value to me.

I got back out to my van just knowing that I had accidentally locked my keys in my van, but once again they weren’t there. Where could they be? I hadn’t gone that far from the parking lot into the restaurant. So at this point, I’m beginning to get just a “little” concerned. I did what any woman that’s lost her keys would do. I began to tear my van apart just knowing they had to be in there somewhere. I looked under the seats. I looked in every inch of that van. Still no keys. I looked under my van. I looked all around the van. Still no keys. Then I did what I didn’t want to do. I took every single item out of my purse. That is a major undertaking for a female. Let me just say that you will find all kinds of interesting things in your purse that you didn’t know was there. Then after all of that, still no keys.

My son, being the awesome son that he is, decided that he would go back inside the restaurant and look through the trash for his mother. Let me just say that takes a real man to dig through the trash for something that his mother has lost. He is something special. Well after all that digging through nasty restaurant trash cans, still no keys.

At this point, I am really beginning to get frustrated. They have to be somewhere. How do you lose keys between your vehicle and the inside of a restaurant? I don’t know how, but I have successfully accomplished this in my lifetime in case you were wanting to know.

Then after all of my digging through my van, I was prompted to pray. I had looked everywhere, but wasn’t getting anywhere. I was desperate at this point. Nothing was happening. I didn’t even stop to question if God would hear me. I knew that He would and that He would respond. I knew that He was concerned about what concerned me, and my lost keys concerned me. I cried out to Him. I verbally cried out to Him. I didn’t care who heard me.

After a brief discussion, my son and I decided that he would go back in one more time to dig through the trash and talk to the employees (while I’m continuing to ravage my van) to see if he might have overlooked something.

After a few minutes, he made his way back to the van…with my keys! I had to hear from him exactly what had transpired! He did attempt to look through the trash one more time. That is just another proud mama moment, so there you go! Now on to the rest of the story. He talked to some of the employees at the front counter. They had found my keys! I had “accidentally” left them on the front counter when I ordered. I have never done that before, but now I have! A gentleman saw them lying on the counter and turned them in. They had been inside the restaurant at the counter the whole time! Well let me just say that I was a little bit more than happy at this point. This was a “I’m going to praise Jesus” moment for me.

Not being able to find my lost keys wasn’t the end of the world. I still had an extra key to be able to drive my van. No one had been injured or hurt in this incident. No lives lost or starving people. No this wasn’t a matter of life or death, but it was important to me, so it was important to God. He cared enough to hear my heart’s cry as I verbally expressed this to Him. He heard me, and He answered me. Let me say that again. He heard me, and He answered me. He loves me that much. He loved me enough to bring my lost keys back to me. Wow, God! You are awesome!

So the next time you are going through something and you wonder if God is even concerned about what you’re facing, then know that He does! Let my lost keys story be a reminder that He hears you when you cry out to Him. There isn’t one of your heart’s cries that ever goes unnoticed.

Just remember this. God has a sense of humor and likes to surprise you every now and then. He likes to keep things, let me say…interesting. There’s no room for dull & boring when He’s around. Plus it gives you lots of fun stories to share with others. Love, enjoy, and embrace this beautiful journey called life.