Why do we assume that when we don’t get the answer that we want for our prayers, that God hasn’t answered? Do we always give our children what they want, when they want it? So it is with our Heavenly Father. We don’t always get what we want, when we want it! But God HAS answered….. He answered it with a “NO!” Another time it might be a “Wait a while” answer. But it is still an answer!
Let’s look at some of the reasons our prayers aren’t always granted immediately. The psalmist tells in Psalm 66 verse 18 that if I “regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me”. So if we are harbouring resentment against a person or hugging some sin in our life, our prayers don’t get any higher than the ceiling. We have to get ourselves right before God first, and then make our request. There is another verse that says in a modern translation…. “Don’t worry about ANYTHING; instead, pray about EVERYTHING, and don’t forget to give God thanks for the answer” (Philippians 4:6). We are to give God thanks, even if we don’t get what we have asked for. We are to remember that He knows what is best for us.
Then an example of this, is what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10… “a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me….concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me, And He said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’. So Paul could see that there was a reason for his problem, and that he could overcome it with the Lord’s help. As a result he was able to give God thanks for it, and even glory in his weakness.
Another reason is that we ask in the wrong spirit….we beg, we plead, we use other verses to show why our prayer should be answered how and when we want it. But we should always ask that it be in the Lord’s will, not ours. And then ask for the patience to wait and see. Then again, the Lord might be using us to prove a point to someone else. Remember how Job was the most upright man on the face of the earth in his time. But Satan kept on at God… “You just give him some trouble and see what happens, he’ll curse You then!” So God allowed Satan to take away all Job’s possessions, and even his children. But Job remained faithful to God, and said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. Even when worse came on him and his health was taken away from him, being covered with putrid boils, and his friends telling him it was all his fault, that he must have been sinning secretly, Job was still able to say, “Though He slays me, yet will I trust Him!” (Job 13:15). What an example he is to us today, after all these years!
So let’s remember these things when it seems the next time that God hasn’t answered our prayer. He HAS answered….with a “No” or a “Wait a while”, and don’t forget to thank Him for His answer!
