Have you ever prayed passionately for something that you desperately wanted and felt like God didn’t hear you? Perhaps you lost your house to bankruptcy, your fiance just ended the relationship, that promotion you wanted so desperately was given to a coworker, or a loved one died even though you fasted, prayed, and even begged God for what you wanted. But no matter how much you pleaded with Him, God said “no.” Sometimes we want something so much that we think we know more than God does. We pray demanding just how God should answer our prayers. But the truth is, if we could see the end from the beginning, we wouldn’t want it any other way than God’s way! He alone sees the future, and He knows what is best for us. It may be that He doesn’t give us what we are asking for because we are not ready to receive it or that, if He did, there would be a consequence we would not want. Other times, His answer will be “no” because it would hurt us in the end. There are a million reasons God does what He does, but you can count on this: He will always have your back and make the best decisions on your behalf. God knows what He is doing, so pray with trust and humility. And the next time God says “no,” be sure to thank Him!
James 1:3 KJV - Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV - For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Matthew 7:9-11 KJV - Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Psalm 84:11 KJV - For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.