Every believer knows the joy of having their prayers answered. But there are times our faith is tested when our prayers seem to go unanswered and we don’t understand why. One of my favorite Southern Gospel songs explains it this way:
“You never pray a prayer, your Father will not answer
He can’t ignore His child’s earnest request
While you’re waiting and believing
For what you thought was best
Trust God if He says no – you’re still blessed
There must be a greater yes”
God is a loving Father who wants what is best for us. He also wants to protect us from harm so there will be times when He tells us “no” for our own good. An old Garth Brooks song reminds us, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” I am not always wise when I make requests to God, but His answers are always wise and loving.
A few weeks ago our senior pastor reminded us that in addition to yes or no, sometimes God’s answer to our prayer is “not now”. That answer is the hardest for us to accept. In this era of instant gratification no one wants to wait for anything. We are limited by time – God is not. He lives in the past, present and future. He sees what we cannot and he continues to watch over us even when we don’t know what we need to pray for. I have friends who tell of being delayed for a weird reason then coming upon a serious accident they may have been involved in had they left on time. There were workers who were late for work in the twin towers on September 11, 2001. Their stress and frustration suddenly turned to gratefulness when they realized being late that day may have saved their lives. It isn’t always a life or death situation. There have been times in my life when I have prayed for something and God knew I wasn’t ready for it yet. I did not understand at the time but the wait has always been worth it. God is good and His timing is perfect.
One of the benefits of faith in Jesus Christ is the wonderful opportunity we have to bring our prayers directly to God in Jesus’ name. Jesus even gave us the “Lord’s Prayer” as an example of how we should pray. When we pray we are to praise and glorify God; thank Him for all He has done for us and then ask Him to provide our needs and the needs of others. While we are in His presence we should always take time to listen for what He has to say to us through His Holy Spirit within us. Unless we are faced with an emergency situation, we must resist the urge to go directly to our list of petitions and requests. After all God is the Creator of the universe – not Santa.