God Will Make a Way for You

God Will Make a Way for You

Reflecting on the Prayers We Ask of God and His Response

God tells us that He is Al-Mujeeb المجيب

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِی عَنِّی فَإِنِّی قَرِیبٌۖ أُجِیبُ دَعۡوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِۖ فَلۡیَسۡتَجِیبُوا۟ لِی وَلۡیُؤۡمِنُوا۟ بِی لَعَلَّهُمۡ یَرۡشُدُونَ﴿ ١٨٦ ﴾‬

If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to those who call Me, so let them respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be guided.

Al-Baqarah, Ayah 186

This root in Arabic is not merely to convey response but to depict a response that came where none was conceivable.

We know this root is used for neckline جيب (jayb), which is slit into a solid garment. But the root was also used to emphasise the physical prowess of Thamud, who carved their homes out of the stone landscape (89:9)

‫وَثَمُودَ ٱلَّذِینَ جَابُوا۟ ٱلصَّخۡرَ بِٱلۡوَادِ﴿ ٩ ﴾‬

and the Thamud, who hewed into the rocks in the valley,

Al-Fajr, Ayah 9

So God is not just the One who responds.

He is the One who cuts an opening where none seemed possible.

The One who responds by creating passage where there was no conceivable pathway.

The One who orchestrates realities to answer our prayer…

The One who slashes through distance so that a prayer made in private becomes a future written across oceans, years and circumstances.

For God there is no distance, or nothing too hard to break through. He is everywhere. The Creator of all things, including the physics of reality.

He is the One who parted the sea for the Children of Israel fleeing from Pharoah, using Moses’ staff, cooled the fire for Abraham and saved Joseph from prison…

How many people quietly ask God for a righteous spouse, never imagining that the answer to their prayer may already exist thousands of miles away? Someone raised in another city, in another country, living an entirely different life, both unknown to each other. Yet slowly, through unrelated decisions, delays, missed meetings, chance conversations, migrations, changed plans, and unexpected turns God moved their two souls toward one another…

How many times do we panic about something yet God prevented all of our anxieties from occurring?

Sometimes the response was already happening, and just as we were about to lose hope, the answer comes. And perhaps, the answer was already heading our way before we made the prayer or found ourselves in need. The travellers that found Joseph in the well were already in their caravan. The two young women waiting by the well were there before Moses made his dua, working for their father and marrying one of them.

How many times did we pray for help and people, who could help, unexpectedly appeared? Or things happened with such ease, after successive and immense loss and difficulty?

Somewhere beyond what you can see, the wind is already travelling toward you carrying good news for your heart, a mercy not yet visible, and an opening just for you by the Most Merciful for your deepest worries.

Perhaps, although God knows and we merely speculate to increase in our hearts trust in Him, God planted in our hearts a prayer that He already intended to answer…

So never say, “How will God make this happen? It is impossible. Why hasn’t God answered my prayer?”

God is close to you, but the answer can transcend all distances and expectations… trust in His timing. God will orchestrate a beautiful response that, only in hindsight, will you later thank Him for…

إِنَّ رَبِّی قَرِیبࣱ مُّجِیبࣱ – Indeed, my Lord is Near, Responsive

Chapter 11 Verse 61

‫۞ وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمۡ صَـٰلِحࣰاۚ قَالَ یَـٰقَوۡمِ ٱعۡبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنۡ إِلَـٰهٍ غَیۡرُهُۥۖ هُوَ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱسۡتَعۡمَرَكُمۡ فِیهَا فَٱسۡتَغۡفِرُوهُ ثُمَّ تُوبُوۤا۟ إِلَیۡهِۚ إِنَّ رَبِّی قَرِیبࣱ مُّجِیبࣱ﴿ ٦١ ﴾‬

To the Thamud, We sent their brother, Salih. He said, ‘My people, worship God. You have no god other than Him. It was He who brought you into being from the earth and made you inhabit it, so ask forgiveness from Him, and turn back to Him: my Lord is near, and ready to answer.’

Hūd, Ayah 61