God Always Answers Prayer
He may not answer in a way we would like. Sometimes He answers with a “yes” or “yes and even better.” Sometimes, however, He answers will a “no or not yet.”
Sometimes God delays prayers for a few reasons:
- To Try our faith. Like the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28, whose faith was tried by Jesus. God may delay in answering to try our faith and cause dependence on Him. This produces endurance (James 1:3).
2. To humble our pride. Like the Israelites of old, God may delay in answering to humble our pride and make us more dependent on Him (Duetermony 8:3).
3. To increase our desire. Like the persistent woman whose prayer grew stronger and stronger until the desired outcome was achieved. God may delay prayer so that we want it more eagerly and intensely seek Him for the answer (Luke 18:1-8).
4. To appreciate the answer. What comes quickly and easily is not always valued as something slow and hard. God may delay in answering prayer so that we appreciate the answer more deeply (Phillippians 4:6).
5. To Commune with God. At the end of the day, prayer may not be primarily about what we need, but about what we need. When we continually ask God for help we commune with Him. All He wants is to have a relationship with us (Psalm 72:28-29).
“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 everyone asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” – Matthew 7:7-8
From Pity to Praise 