When God says no.

I wrote and read this for my church ladies day last weekend.
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Recently, I was talking with a friend and the topic of prayer came up. This friend stated that he didn't think prayer was really effective because things did or did not happen regardless of if he prayed. This caught me off guard and at the time, I had no idea how to respond to his statement. I have been thinking about his comments since then and trying to decide why I pray and why I believe it is effective and worth my time.

As you may or may not know, I suffer from medical conditions that cause chronic daily pain and constant visits to various doctors and specialists. Throughout my life, I have prayed countless times for healing from my illnesses and yet, I am still sick. Does this mean my prayers have been in vain or that God hasn't heard me? No, I think it is quite the opposite. I know God hears me, but maybe he has different plans in mind.

Sometimes we mistake God's silence or an answer other than yes for God not hearing our prayers. But I know firsthand that God hears and answers prayers. I have prayed and seen results within minutes that I just can't believe is a coincidence  But I have also experienced the discouragement of what I thought were prayers God didn't answer or didn't hear.

As I just mentioned, I have prayed over and over to be healed. I always left the how up to God, whether it be through a sort of miraculous healing of my illnesses and disease or if it be through treatments and surgeries provided by the doctors, but I never even considered a healing that wasn't physical.

See, I believe God has heard my prayers to be healed, but I think He has a better way of doing that than a miraculous healing. Maybe for God's plan for my life and who He wants me to become, I have to first endure these times of physical hardship. Maybe the healing God wants to provide me with now is a spiritual and emotional healing. I firmly believe that is it. Because through God answering my prayers differently than I had hoped, I have gained appreciation for life and a special kind of long suffering, both of which I could not have experienced if God had just given me what I had asked for at the time.

Sometimes when we think God says no, He really just has better plans in mind. Although we may not fully understand them at the time, they make perfect sense in the will of God and will make sense to us someday too.

Thinking about the topic of prayer reminds me of a song by a Christian artist, Laura Story. This song is called "Blessings" and in the song she says...

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights 

Are what it takes to know You're near

And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us

When darkness seems to win

We know the pain reminds this heart

That this is not, this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise

Philippians 4:6-7 says:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

So to answer my friend who asked me about prayer: I would now say to Him that just because God doesn't answer the way we pray, doesn't mean He isn't answering at all. Sometimes God's silence or change of direction is just a better plan of protection and love.