Sometimes God Says No

[Starwynd]

This was inspired by a Country song. I can’t remember the title of the song but the performer of it goes on about how he prayed to God but God hasn’t answered yet. And it serves to illustrate an attitude that I vehemently disagree with.

That God must answer all prayers and that he must say yes to all prayers.

Well, sometimes when he doesn’t answer it may be His way of saying no.

I don’t understand this demand of God that all prayers must be answered with a yes and why people can’t understand that sometimes God says no.

 

[Swan]

This was inspired by a Country song. I can’t remember the title of the song but the performer of it goes on about how he prayed to God but God hasn’t answered yet. And it serves to illustrate an attitude that I vehemently disagree with.

That God must answer all prayers and that he must say yes to all prayers.

Well, sometimes when he doesn’t answer it may be His way of saying no.

I don’t understand this demand of God that all prayers must be answered with a yes and why people can’t understand that sometimes God says no.

I know few people who think of prayer as sort of a gumball machine where you put in your $ and out comes gum. However, I have serious issues with the concept of prayer. Specifically, it it is all God’s will, why bother? We’re going to talk God around? And since there is no rhyme or reason, generally speaking, in our understanding of why some prayers are answered while others are not, it ends up being sort of a **** shoot. It is actually impossible to conclude that just because one prays for a certain thing and that thing happens that this outcome was a result of the prayer. No causal connection can be proved, though it is often assumed. I would have less trouble with the idea that God says no if I could find more examples of God at least providing peace of mind to the person praying even if the thing prayed for was not forthcoming. That’s sounding a little complicated so let me give you an example: you pray for a loved one to recover, they die. Why then does God not at least provide us the the inner peace to accept this outcome? I’ve suffered too much myself and seen the suffering of others, often more devout than I, to know that even this seems to be asking too much. I’m not saying we get an understanding of the event, just peace. And please don’t respond that these folks aren’t open to it. Not only is this not the case, they often pray very hard for this very thing.

 

[Newbie2]

The protestant minister Michael Youssef (spelling?) often refers to the mistaken thinking about God as some sort of a “Cosmic Bellhop”.

The solution, methinks, is to pray the way Jesus taught us.

 

[StCsDavid]

I would posit that God answers our needs more than necessarily our wants. For example, I pray to win the lottery because I think I will find security in such wealth, but instead God gives me a loving wife and family and a deep faith in Him which far exceeds the value of any lottery winnings. So God has not answered “no” to my need.

This becomes more difficult with more desperate situations. For example, if I had a terminal illness and asked God for a cure that never came. It would be tempting to say that God said no; however, what greater need could I have then to be with Him? Or maybe I don’t want to die out of fear and He gives me the grace to face my illness.

Perhaps we should all ask for the grace to pray “Thy will be done,” and have that be our ultimate desire.

 

[Dameedna]

This was inspired by a Country song. I can’t remember the title of the song but the performer of it goes on about how he prayed to God but God hasn’t answered yet. And it serves to illustrate an attitude that I vehemently disagree with.

That God must answer all prayers and that he must say yes to all prayers.

Well, sometimes when he doesn’t answer it may be His way of saying no.

I don’t understand this demand of God that all prayers must be answered with a yes and why people can’t understand that sometimes God says no.

Prayer is a contemplation of God.

 

[beckycmarie]

I think that when we perceive an answer to a prayer as “no,” that in reality we received something much better than we asked for. After all, God answers prayers according to what is best for our souls.

It probably won’t be until we reach Heaven that we learn all the ways God answered us when we thought he said “no” or just wasn’t listening.