My title for this devotion is Answered vs Unanswered.
It has often been said (at least by me) that God has 3 answers to prayer: Yes. No. Wait awhile. It shakes out (as I see it) this way:
- No. God does not grant my request. What I asked for was not in His desire for me. A little hard to take.
- Yes. God agrees with me! 🙂 The request I made was His desire for me. Very easy to accept.
- Wait awhile. Self-explanatory in its meaning. God’s desire for me is not now. The answer will eventually come but not yet. This might be hardest because who likes to wait?
But wait we must. The “No” is hard to take because we know what we want and God is basically saying, “Not today. I know what’s best and what you’ve requested is not in my desire for you. I have something better.” And sometimes the No morphs into “wait awhile.” If I’m patient. But that “if” is a big word.
The real stickler is common thought today among religious people, i.e. prayers are not answered with a Yes because I/a person does not have enough faith. I think that line of thought is pure garbage! I will sometimes say that something is from the pit of hell and smells like smoke. That’s exactly what I think of that thought. As I recall “great faith” was not an essential. Oh sure, there were times Jesus commended a person’s faith. Jairus. The centurion. Even the woman with the issue of blood. But He also said that if we have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed we can tell this mountain to move and it would. Even a small sliver of faith is enough. It isn’t necessarily the size of our faith but that we have faith that is important.
Even a “no” is an answer; just as “yes” and “wait awhile” are. Big or small. Great or a sliver. It is never “your faith isn’t big enough.”
“Father, a mustard seed is all you said was needed. I bring what faith I have to You and pray for an answer- Your answer.”
The internet has taught us that waiting is the worst thing to experience in our modern age.
I do think faith is important in prayer, however, I do not think “NO” answers are necessarily the lack of faith. God knows our heart, God knows our motive, God knows our response even before we do. God also knows of the impact our prayers will have and when. God sees not just the bigger picture, but the whole picture. The “picture” is more of time lapse of every single person in existence – past, present, and future.
God knows how the impact of an answered prayer and how it is intertwined with the prayers of others. Could it be that God may answer “NO”, Not because of how it will impact me personally, but because how a “Yes” answer may impact those around me… or even someone I do not know?
I may be wrong, but I view our “requests” to God as a form of worship. He knows what is on our heart. He knows our desires. My prayer to God allows God to see that I know He is in control.
God always knows what’s best for us, Bill. He will answer us in His own way and in His own time; we need only be patient, knowing that whatever amount of faith we have is enough.
Blessings!
I can only imagine what a disaster my life would be if I got all I asked my Father for…