Why You Should Rejoice When God Does Not Answer Your Prayers

Daily Devotional – Thursday, December 16, 2021

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:14 (NKJV)

Only God knows how many times I have wrestled with Him on why He declines my prayers. There have been numerous sleepless nights, torrential tears and throbbing anger. What did I do wrong, God?

I feel aggrieved because I feel my needs were genuine. From my point of view, my life will be greatly inconvenienced if I fail to get what I am praying for. I expect God to understand my needs from my point of view.

Why did you deny me that promotion when you know how long I have stagnated? Don’t you see this gadget will improve my life and help me to serve you better? Father, if only you gave me that opportunity, I would…

If we ask anything according to His will

After numerous disappointments, though, I realize I am still healthy and alive despite God declining my demands. Did I really need what I was asking for? I think God was right in saying ‘No’ after all, I conclude.

The Bible addresses my predicament and offers the solution in John’s first epistle. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 John 5:14)

God answers our prayers on condition that our petitions are in tandem with His will. Therefore, if what we pray for will harm us now or in the future, God will not hear us. We may love that person or item but the Omniscient God knows we will suffer eventually.

God may also refuse to honour our request if doing so will lead us away from Him. Even the items we consider good and people we think cannot harm us may push us from God. In His infinite mercy and out of His great love, God disappoints us.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God

Then there are prayers whose outcome will remain a secret until we meet Christ in eternity and ask for clarifications. For now, let us be content to know that, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God.” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Even as we celebrate the prayers God answered, we can also rejoice in those He declined. Let our philosophy always be, “.., we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

Thank You God for the prayers You did not answer.