A Christian friend of mine was asked by an unbeliever, “Do you really believe God answers your prayers?” He responded, “Sometimes, if I look forward in fear, I confess that I don’t know; however, if I look back in time, I say, ‘Absolutely, God answers my prayers’”.
We may not always get what we want when we pray since God is not a genie in a bottle who grants our every wish; rather, He is our heavenly Father who knows what is best for us, and sometimes what we think is good for us would turn out to be very bad. Therefore, just as a child must grow up to trust their earthly father who loves them, we trust God who loves us million’s times more than any earthly father or mother.
And, what if God did give us everything for which we pray? Would our life be better or worse? I think we all know the answers to those questions!
Read Luke 11:1-13. Then listen to Trust in You by Carl Cartee.
Luke 11:1-13
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation.’”
And He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Now which one of you fathers will his son ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”