Clearly these were not casual prayers, carelessly offered at the spur of the moment, but three separate and sustained periods of intercession directed to Jesus himself.3 God’s answer was not, at first, what Paul wanted to hear. Nevertheless it was God’s standing answer (the Greek should be rendered, “But he has said to me …”). The answer itself is often repeated in hymn and song, but must not have been easy to accept when first given: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect