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What’s the difference in God answering your prayers and giving you want you ask for?

Posted on July 17, 2014
By Fletcher Jonson

What’s the difference in God answering your prayers and God giving you what you ask for?

There are so many times in my life when I really thought I understood what I needed or was convinced that what I wanted was the right thing to want.  There are also so many times when I didn’t get what I’d begged for…what I’d requested God to grant in my life.  ‘Been there?

Let me just say this, I’ve also had so many times in my life when I’ve been able to look back at what I didn’t get and have been able to see that NOT getting what I’d requested was truly the answer to my prayers!  I know, that sounds confusing, but, here’s what I’m thinking….

My deepest prayer to God is that He will be able to use me for bettering His kingdom,  that I will be the child that He wants me to be. I pray that He will be able to grow me to be more like Jesus.  My prayer is that my children will become women of God and better the world and families that God is entrusting to them.  My prayer is that my life and heart will always reflect Him.

My requests are sometimes different…I want someone to share my life with on earth, I want to have enough money not to worry about things, I want to be close to my children and grandchildren. I want to be active, I want the light to stay green so I’m on time….I want to wake up in the morning and be miraculously thin, and then I’ll maintain that perfect weight, I promise! ….notice that so often we begin our prayer “requests” with “I want, I need” … but God knows the deepest of wants and needs for us and He answers our prayers according to that knowing.  God knows that sometimes our “requests” won’t line up with our true needs and wants.  So, He answers the “requests” accordingly.

How many times have we been able to look back on the “requests” of the past and thanked God that He did NOT give us what we were sure we wanted or needed back then!?

Thinking about this today, I asked myself this question – and now I’m asking you too- When was the last time I sat down to thank God for saying no to me.  When was the last time that I asked Him to forgive me for being hurt/angry/frustrated  because He didn’t give me my request!? When was the last time I stopped being a petulant child and simply bowed to the fact that my Daddy God is answering the best prayers for me and  my life.

What’s the difference in God answering your prayers and God giving you what you ask for?  You can only see this little tiny piece of the puzzle and what you think it looks like – But God knows all of it and how it will really all fit together for your good/best. The difference is that God is always do what is the best for you, not what you think would be good for you!

I hope that makes sense to you, because I have to go in the other room and apologize to God for being a big whiney baby about “unanswered” prayer requests and thank Him that He has not always given me what I wanted. While I’m gone, maybe you want to think back and see if He has done you a favor by NOT giving you what you “requested

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