What Do We Do When God's Answer To Our Prayer Is "No"? Series

“When God says “No”

So my question for you this morning is: Does God ALWAYS answer our prayer?

In my life and in your life, God will always answer our prayers in one of 3 ways:

SOMETIMES, His answer is YES …

Sometimes it’s WAIT …

and sometimes it’s NO …

We are happy when God says YES.

We can get impatient when He says WAIT.

But when God says no, that’s harder for us to accept isn’t it?

No can be the answer we really don’t want to receive,

even when we pray that God’s will is what will be done in our lives,

even when we say Lord we trust you, your ways are perfect,

a no answer is still difficult for us to deal with because, somewhere deep inside, we thought God would say yes.

Maybe you are like me, maybe there have been times when you have prayed expecting a Yes answer, or maybe a wait answer and yet God has said no.

When I was made redundant from my job in the city, I prayed that God would provide another job there for me.

For days I prayed and I assumed that as the job still had not come that God’s answer to my prayer was wait.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into two and a half years.

There were days when I could not understand why God was making me wait, when was the Yes going to come.

I was trusting in Him, that in His perfect plan for me, He would lead me back to a job in London.

No, was not the answer I expected to my prayer, but in God’s will and purpose it was the right answer to my prayer.

God had other plans for me, the answer to the prayer for a job in London was No, because His plan was for me to accept a full-time call to ministry.

God knew the best answer to my prayer.

God will NEVER give us anything that is not right for us, He will never do something that is outside of His perfect will and purpose for us.

At times we may think we know what is best, yet God knows what is really best for us.

We really need to learn to trust God more.

The verses I want us to focus on this morning are John 14:13-14,

Because a No answer from God is difficult for us to accept and understand when the words of Jesus recorded in this passage say:

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Jesus did not say “Ask for anything in my name, and you will get some sort of response,” He said, “I will do it!”

When we pray, often we close our prayers with a phrase like, “in Jesus’ name. Amen,”

But simply saying those words does not mean what we have asked for will happen.

Praying in the name of Jesus is more than just saying the right words, it is about praying according to God’s will and purpose for our lives,

its about understanding that God knows what is best for us, and trusting that if He answers Yes, wait or No, it is the right and appropriate answer.

It’s praying the “Thy will be done” of the Lord’s prayer.

“Lord, this is my heart,

this is my desire,

this is my need,

this is my circumstance,

this is my situation,

but You know what is best,

I trust you to answer my prayer in the right way, give me the grace to accept your will,

your purpose, your love,

may your will be done in my life”

That is the key to prayer - to trust that His will is perfect, to trust He will do what is right, even when the answer is No.

In prayer, we need to put aside our worldly desires and focus on God’s will and glory instead.

That is what it really means to pray in the name of Jesus.

And if the answer to your prayer is No, God will give you the grace to live with His no.

We need to trust that if God answered that prayer with a YES - the result would have been bad for us

God really does care for you.

God really loves you and sometimes, He says no because His plan is to give us something better.

When I prayed for a job in London, I thought that would be the best thing to happen.

God said No, and at the time, I did not understand why, looking back now, it makes perfect sense.