No Means No

 

Have you ever said this to your kids? Especially after they have begged and begged for something hoping you will change your mind. I think sometimes God wants to say that to us especially when we keep praying the same prayer over and over again. Many times we can't see God's answers to our prayers so we just keep asking, and asking, and asking waiting for the answer to drop in our lap....when all along the answer was right in front of us. Maybe not the answer that we wanted but an answer nonetheless!! 

I am no expert on prayer....not by a long shot! I, however, believe in prayer and the relationship it allows me to have with God. I believe in praying for anything and everything that is of concern for me or for others. I have prayed for pets to heal and not die. I have prayed that God would "fix" an old pickup truck I used to drive because we didn't have the money to get it fixed. I have prayed that I would remember to feed all the animals when I was in charge for the weekend. I can't tell you how many tests I have prayed over while our kids were in school at ACU!! Okay, this one is the worst but true....instead of praying for willpower to not eat the Girl Scout cookies....I prayed they would mold so I couldn't eat them!! Seriously....who does that....ME!

 

God has shown me over the years a few things regarding prayer. One of the hardest lesson I have learned through my prayer life is that God's timeline and my timeline.....completely different time zones!! I truly believe that God answers all prayer...not necessarily as fast as we would like. Sometimes it takes years before we see an answer to our prayers. God doesn't promise instant responses....He just  tells us that if we ask in faith we will receive. 

 

There have been many prayers I have prayed that if God had answered them immediately or exactly like I had requested.....lets just say I don't always know what is best for me! God knows what we need when we need it. When answers don't come in the form that I had prayed for....there is a very good reason....one that I can't even begin to know or understand. I have to trust God that He knows what He is doing!!! 

 

When I first discovered my ex-husbands affair and the year that followed, I prayed like I had never prayed before. I asked God to make me into the type of woman that he needed. I asked God to change his heart to love me again. I begged, pleaded, bargained, whined...you name it, I was willing to do it in order to save my marriage. When it began to look like none of those prayers were being answered, I began to ask God to show me Him in all the pain. To show me the good that will come from the darkness.

It took three long, hard years of praying over and over...."God show me the light in this darkness"....but He did answer.

 

I wanted God to answer my prayers immediately and exactly like I wanted. He didn't do that....He answered them on His time...in His manner....with His plan for my life in mind. As many times as I questioned Him.....God kept telling me and assuring me that He was in control....He had the steering wheel and the map. As hard and as dark as those years were....God took care of me....He carried me until I was able to handle His answers. 

Something else I have learned through my prayer life and relationship with God is that I'm not the only believer praying and asking of God!! God may not answer a prayer exactly how we want it but He does answer it. I believe God has blessed me many times with unanswered prayers. I have seen God use unanswered prayers in one person's life to glorify God in another person's life. God uses my "unanswered" prayer to give answers to someone else. My "no" may be "yes" for someone else. 

 

God doesn't always give us what we want but He does give us what we need, when we need it, and how we need it. I believe that God answers all prayers....it isn't my place to put time restraints on them....my job is to ask and have faith God will work all things to His glory!!

 

From my corner of the world....praying for the little things!!