For example, there have been times when I prayed for patience and just waited for the Lord to answer me with this clear of feeling of serenity and calmness that overshadowed all frustration. And He answered me all right, but instead of what I expected, He put me in places in His Word that speak directly of patience and then He would throw me in some seemingly especially difficult circumstances in which to practice that patience! But at the end of the day, when I looked back, God answered my prayers - He gave me patience, just not in the way I expected.
A more recent example is that of praying for witnessing opportunities. For quite a while, I've been praying for these opportunities to witness to my friends. A part of my has just been expecting the Lord to send someone walking up to me, asking, "Jaquelle, can you tell me about Jesus, please?" But that hasn't happened. Then suddenly I started talking to this one friend who I don't know really well. We were e-mailing, just small talk, and then suddenly I felt like a huge neon sign that said "WITNESS HERE!!!" whacked me over the head. This was an opportunity I had been praying for. So thus began a series of e-mails with this friend about the gospel!
Answered prayer is definitely a great mystery, but it's a really, really cool mystery! Sometimes the Lord answers prayer is ways we expect, other times, not so much. Do you have answered prayers that at one time seemed so unexpected and mysterious to you, but you now recognize were from the Lord? Leave me a comment or send me an e-mail - I'd love to hear about them!