When God Says No
“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.” 1 John 5:14
I’m not an expert on answered prayer, but I’m pretty sure there are three possible answers to every prayer: yes, no, and not now (which is still a yes). James gives us a brief insight into understanding why God says no. (James 4:2-3)
You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
God knows what we have need of before we even ask, but he still chooses to involve us in the process. God rarely approaches us to offer a solution for something we have not asked him for. I love it when my kids ask, “Mom, can you do something for me?” I love doing things for them. I am delighted when they come to me and ask. James says, “Perhaps the reason your prayers are unanswered is that you haven’t prayed them. You haven’t asked.”
The other possibility is wrong motives. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to have things that will bring pleasure in our lives, it’s just that sometimes we are very shortsighted. God knows what is best for us because he can look down the road and see the effects of the things we are asking him for.
I never could understand as a child why I couldn’t have just a couple of cookies right before dinner. The cookies would have made me very happy. While my mom wanted me to be happy, she could look down the road and see that if I ate the cookies, her chances of getting me to eat the green beans were looking pretty slim. Cookies would bring me momentary pleasure, but green beans would contribute to my long term health, and mom wanted me to be healthy. She knew what was good for me, so she said no.
So when does God say yes? When we pray for what pleases him (not just us). The Amplified Bible says, “if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us.” God has a plan and purpose for our lives. His yes will be to those things that line up with his plan and purpose.
God’s plan for Jesus was to be the Savior of the world, but there was a cross between Jesus and the realization of that plan. Jesus prayed, “If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Jesus asked God not for what would please him (to bypass the suffering) but for what would please God. If Jesus, the perfect sinless Son of God, prayed, “I want your will to be done, not mine,” it would do us well to seek the will of the Father when we pray. When we ask for anything that pleases him, we can be confident that the answer will be yes.