How does God answer our prayers?

Quintus Heine

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose.

Sometimes someone will tell me how they have prayed all their life for something, and that they believes their prayer gives glory to the Lord, but year after year, they have received no answer. Someone else will say that God has given them an answer almost immediately. Prayer doesn’t work like a vending machine, where you push a button and the answer pops out! Prayer is where you realise that you are completely dependent on God. We must always be aware that God is our Father and that we can trust him to act at the right time to our advantage. He always answer our prayers. Sometimes it is a clear "Yes", sometimes it’s a "No" or "Wait".

• God will sometimes answer "yes": It will be according to his will and to his glory. In 1 John 5:14-15 John says that he knows that he recevies what he asks of God because he prays according to God's will.
• God will sometimes answer "no": There are requests that are not according to God's will, like the times we pray with selfish motives. James 4:3: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. There are also requests that God knows what will not benefit us. For example: If your child wants to play with scissors, you will not allow it, even if he is upset with your decision. Likewise, our loving heavenly Father sometimes says no, because what we ask neither benefit ourselves or the kingdom of God. Trust him completely, because he knows what is best for us and for the expansion of his kingdom.
• God will sometimes answer "wait a minute": God's time is different from our time. Sometimes the time is not yet ripe. It's like seed you sow. It takes time to produce a crop. Other times the Lord wants your spiritual life to grow. The more we pray, the greater our understanding. I have prayed many times on a matter and then, after years of prayer, come to realise that I no longer need what I asked for and that the Lord has something better in mind.

However, we must learn to wait patiently on the Lord and trust him. He will answer our prayers in his own time. If we are close to him, will we know when our prayers are answered.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to confidently and patiently wait for you to answer my prayers. Amen