Prayer

     God always answers prayer.  He answers it the way that is best for us.  We may not agree with the way He answers, but He always answers for our own good.  We may not like the way He answers but He always has us in mind when He answers.  There are three ways He may answer.

1.  He answers Yes.  We ask for something that we want or need and if it's according to His Will, He graciously gives it to us.  It may not be the way we want it to be but He does give it to us.  He loves us so much that He loves to give us what we want, but sometimes what we want may not be the right thing.

2.  He answers No.  You say, "What?  God answers no?"  Yes, if it's not His Will, He will say no.  A lot of people ask for things that are shallow or not important, like millions of dollars are a very expensive car.  Those are not things that necessarily will be best for us.  We then might even pray for something that is important, like the healing of a loved one with a serious illness.  Yes, He might answer, "Not your will, but My Will."  It is not God's Will necessarily for us to suffer and die, but God uses tragedy for His glory, not necessarily our happiness.  God, if you let Him, will give you joy, not happiness, through your trials.  Happiness is dependent on what good we have in our lives.  Joy happens, even in the midst of something terrible.

3.  He answers Wait or Not Now.  Patience is something that God gives us to use in our daily lives as we rejoice, as well as struggle.  Waiting on God is essential in our walk with Him.  It's God's timing that is the best.  We may never see a prayer answered in our lifetime, but it will be answered.  We may have to wait years, and God may want you to always faithfully pray, whether we feel like giving up or not.  We need to endure through every pain in order to gain victory.  God will answer, we just may have to wait.

     Remember to never stop praying for the needs or wants in your life and be faithful in doing so, whether or not the thing you want or need looks impossible to get.  Nothing is impossible with God, even when things look impossible from man's point of view.  Hang in there, trust God and have faith.  The best in life is waiting for you and God is waiting for you to respond to Him.