“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15, NIV)
Have you ever said, “Thank you, Lord, for not answering that prayer!”Have you ever been thankful for those prayers you prayed that were not answered in just the way you had hoped for? Recently I was looking through some of my prayer requests from the past and I began to give God thanks and praise Him for not answering certain prayers in the way I wanted. He answered in ways that I could not imagine. Ephesians 3:20 says He is able to do far more than we can think or imagine. This verse rang loud and clear as I looked at my pray list. One particular request jumped out at me that I knew God had answered a totally different way than I had prayed. I thought I was praying His will and it seemed I was praying according to His will. After praying for months and having others pray with me, the situation just seemed to worsen. I felt as those God was not hearing me at all. I realized that perhaps I wasn’t praying according to His will. Perhaps God had a different plan and it would be something that I could not think or imagine. My prayer partners and I started praying that the truth would be brought to light and the truth would set all free and that God’s perfect will would be done in the entire situation. This would mean I would have to trust God completely. I was not in charge here. After all, I could not see the big picture but God could. Within 2 weeks everything began to change, and for the better. God was working everything out for the good of all and in ways that I could not think or imagine. My plan that I thought was God’s plan would have been devastating! During this time I had to trust God completely. I could hear Him saying “I’ve got this!” He certainly did have it all under control. When we pray we must remember that He may have a better plan than we can imagine. Let’s ask Him to help us to pray according to His will.
Dear Lord,
We thank you that you answer our prayers. We thank you that you know our hearts and You know what’s best for us. Lord, help us to accept your will and trust you even when we don’t understand. Thank you for the prayers you’ve answered and for the prayers you haven’t answered because you knew a better way. In Jesus ’name, Amen.
Submitted by Kathy Walls
