If we look at our life’s circumstances more closely, God is actually answering every one of our prayers. Habakkuk prayed in earnest for a very long time and eventually he asked the Lord, “How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear?” (Habakkuk 1:2). In this world, we will have tribulation, but God’s good cheer is always available to us through it all.
Jesus already overcame these trials for us (John 16:32-33). God uses our trials to build His character in us, to prove His love for us, and to further His Kingdom in the earth (Psalm 34:7,17,19). We can believe that God will deliver us out of all our troubles (Psalm 5:15), because He promised that He would - not in our way or timing, but in His own.
However, God really does answer our prayers more often than we think. God often says “No”, because what we want will be harmful for us in the big scheme of our life. He says “Wait” when He is working in the situation, and it will take more time for the other parties involved to be willing to cooperate with His plan. Also, He wants our faith to grow, so He will make us wait for a while to give us time to trust Him alone.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” If we pray according to God’s will for our life, He showers us with His mercy and grace, influences us with His wisdom, and helps us in every hour of our need (James 4:3; Proverbs 1:24-28, 21:13; Hebrews 4:16; Jeremiah 11:11-14).
The key here is not to make a list for Him of the things we want and wholeheartedly believe that we need. These are self-centered prayers and often prove that we put our own agenda for our life above His (Matthew 26:36-39). A wise person once enlightened us with the words, “Praying for God’s will is the prayer that never fails.”
Prayer:
Father God, You teach us through Your Word, that if we have unforgiveness in our heart, You require that we settle these issues before coming before Your presence to worship You (Matthew 5: 23-24). You also teach us that doubt will block an answered prayer (James 1: 6-7; 2 Corinthians 10:4). If we ignore the needs of others, You cannot answer our prayers (Proverbs 21:13). If we rob You by withholding our tithe, You cannot answer our prayers (Malachi 3: 8-12). Our faulty motives will also hinder the answer to our prayers (Proverbs 16:2).
Remind us that, at times, we do not get answers to our prayers because we have sin that is blocking You from hearing them (Psalm 66:18). When we pray selfishly, rather than according to Your will, You cannot answer our requests (James 4:3). When we love you, obey Your precepts, and walk in Your calling for Your purpose for us, we can trust You to work out every issue in our life for our good (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28).
Thoughts for the Day:
Sometimes, God gives us what we want to show us that it is not what we really needed. God actually wants us to love Him more than we want the answer for our prayer, and He wants us to love Him even if He does not give us what we want. As we remember that our Father God always knows best, we make a habit of praying Jesus’ prayer while He hung on Calvary’s cross, “Lord, not as I will, but Your will be done.”
