Sometimes God Says “NO”.

 (from 2006)

            In today’s society when something goes right for people they say, “My prayers have been answered!” If something doesn’t go right for people they say, “Well, God is testing me to see if I really want it.” Or they might say, “God hasn’t said ‘Yes’ yet.” Did it ever occur to them that God might say ‘No’? Of course not! Because most of the religious people out there think that God would never say ‘No’.

            Here’s a perfect example; televangelist Fred Price has written a book called, “Answered Prayer Guaranteed”. From Amazon.com, here’s part of the description of his book:

This veteran pastor debunks the teaching on prayer that says, "Sometimes God says Yes, sometimes He says No, and sometimes He says Wait." Too often Christians simply pray the wrong prayer and expect God to cover for them.

“Christians simply pray the wrong prayer” is the statement made by Fred Price. Is there such a thing as a wrong prayer? Yes, there is! Someone who prays for wrong things like: Winning the lottery, Hoping the boss gets food poisoning, wanting the waitress at the diner to see him as more than a customer. All of these are wrong types of prayers as they are sinful in nature. All three examples are about self and moving ahead in life (or just getting through life without complications).

But when you read the above description of his book, a person can simply alter their prayer (such as the three examples above) and eventually God will say “Yes” to all of them. What does the bible say? Let’s look at a couple of examples in scriptures of prayers…

We’re all familiar with the apostle Paul and his ‘thorn in the flesh’ from 2 Cor. 12:7-9?  It is written, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

God answered Paul’s prayer and He said, “No”.  Does this mean that the apostle Paul, chosen by God, prayed the wrong prayer?  According to Mr. Price, he did!  Maybe he should have reworded his prayer and asked it differently. But, if you read verse 9 again, Paul seemed content with the answer. Why? Because he put his life in God’s hands. If it was God’s will that he was burdened with this ‘thorn’, then Paul would accept it.

           

Let’s look at another example. Jeremiah, one of God’s prophets, and an individual who knew how to pray right, was told by God not to bother to pray on behalf of the people for He would not hear Jeremiah’s words. In Jer. 7: 16, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.” And again in 11: 14, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me because of their trouble.” God would not hear his prayers for the people of Israel. They were disobedient and turned their backs by worshipping idols and offer sacrifices to the other gods.

These two examples seem to go against Mr. Price’s belief of a wrong prayer.  He wants everyone to believe that one’s prayer will be answered in a positive light if you pray the right prayer.  And this means to the extent of changing your prayer numerous times until you get the desired result.

My suggestion to you that although you should pray the right prayer, please remember, sometimes God will say ‘Not yet’ and sometimes He will say, ‘No’.