God’s Favor in Unanswered Prayer

Prayer is simply communicating with God. But when we pray what are we

communicating? I must admit, my prayers are usually filled with requests- asking God

for a favor... ok, many favors. These favors are things I want Him to do for me. Over my

lifetime of 70 years, I have asked for many things. If I were keeping record, many

of the things I have asked for I haven’t received. These things include healings when

suffering from something, jobs I really wanted, properties we wanted to buy, relationships

we wanted restored, and the list goes on. I have questioned God about these many

times. I usually don’t get specific answers to why, but God revealed a spiritual truth

from His Word that helped me to understand why certain prayers aren’t answered the

way we would like. What He showed me was, simply put, God has a better way.

In Isaiah 55:8-9 it says, “'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts...'” (NIV).

I must remember that God’s thoughts and ways are always better than our own. In my book, I shared a story of God’s call for us to move to Texas to serve a church there. At the time we were living in Oregon where we had planned to build our forever home on 32+ acres and start a retreat ministry. My wife and I along with another pastor and his wife prayed over the property before we purchased it. We all believed this was God’s will. We even got the property for a great deal. We lived near the property and visited it regularly. We loved the land. It had a stream that flowed through it and hills to climb. It even had a nice ½ acre pond. I shot the biggest deer I had ever seen on the property! But then, the economy took a nosedive and we had no income.

This is when God called me to Texas. We had looked and prayed hard for God to open doors in Oregon so that we could stay. It was very hard on us, but moving to TX seemed to be our only option. Looking back, we now see how God used this to bless us in more ways than we can count, including a home that the church purchased for us. We lived there for over 9 years and were blessed beyond words. We have now returned to Oregon where God

has allowed us to enjoy time with our kids and grandkids, and we are in a better place

financially. We finally sold the property for more than twice what we paid for it. We do

have a great God.

So, when your prayers are not answered, remember, God has a better plan. For

His ways and thoughts are far better than our own, you just need to trust Him.

#hope #bible #exposingdeception #lies #truth #jesus #church