When God Says NO . . .

When God Says NO . . . (Part I)

The other day we ran across a Facebook post @realtalkwithmikesteel that listed God’s three answers to prayers.

1. Yes.
2. Not Yet.
3. I Have Something Better in Mind.

In other words, God will answer YES, WAIT or NO. Many people have problems accepting God’s answer when God says NO. Both believers and unbelievers find it hard to accept this answer.

Now we cannot speak to why the unbeliever thinks that God will answer or should answer his or her prayer. But we believe that one of the reasons it is so difficult for the believer to accept God’s answer of NO is that the promise of YES is found in so many Scriptures. This promise leads us to believe that if we just keep asking; eventually God will say YES.

Let’s Explore Prayer

Jesus gave multiple instructions concerning prayer in His Sermon on the Mount. Reading these instructions might cause one to pause and wonder if they contradict each other. Allow us to reassure you that there are no contradictions. There are only opportunities to explore and meditate on the Word of God to gain a deeper understanding of prayer. https://www.gotquestions.org/sermon-on-the-mount.html

A critical understanding that one must take from Jesus’ instructions is that God wants us to pray. God desires for us to have private conversations with Him. These personal conversations will look different for each believer; however, they must occur. Prayer helps us develop our relationship with God. Through prayer, God guides, assures, and comforts us in this journey we call life.

When praying, we often hear or use this quote from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8, NLT)

These two verses in Matthew Chapter 7 encourage us to ask our Heavenly Father for those things that we desire. These verses do not mean that God will grant every prayer request. However, our goal should be to pray in such a way that God does answer our prayers. Otherwise, why pray?

Do You Want God To Give You Your Request?

On the Mount, Jesus gave us a model of how we should pray. This model is used by the author Derek Prince in his book, Secrets of a Prayer Warrior.

Prince has been called a philosopher, brilliant scholar, and spiritual leader. His most important name for us is that of Prayer Warrior. Why? Because God answers the prayers of prayer warriors.

In the Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, Prince identifies eight (8) basic conditions for God to answer our prayers. 

1. Approach God with reverent submission. Acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Ask God to do His Will.  
2. Believe God. Have the faith to trust that God will answer your prayers. How foolish to pray and not believe that there is a God and that He will answer your prayers.
3. Pray in the NAME of JESUS.
4. Approach God boldly. Do not allow any person or any thing to stop you from coming to God in prayer.
5. Check your motive for praying. Is your motive that God will be glorified when He answers your prayer?
6. Forgive anyone who has hurt you. Bitterness and malice have no place in your heart when you are seeking God for your needs and wants.
7. Allow the Holy Spirit to direct you. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:26 & 27, And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (NLT)
8. Pray according to God’s Word. God’s Will is revealed in His Word.

And now our final point for part 1 of the conversation, When God Says NO – -There is a reason for God’s NO.

Jesus compares God the Father to our earthly fathers (earthly parents) in His Sermon on the Mount. He states, You parents – – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:9-11, NLT)

Be confident when you pray that God will grant your request if it is good for you. And how will you know if your request is good for you? Go back to the Prayer Warrior’s eight (8) conditions for prayer.

Next Conversation . . .

We will continue When God Says NO . . . in our next conversation. Questions to think about – – What do you do when God answers NO to your prayer request? Is it ok to ask God ‘why’ when He does not answer your prayer?

Want or need to get in touch with God Has Spoken Ministry (GHSM)? Email us at Godhasspoken2015@gmail.com or https://godhasspokenministries.com/contact/

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