[Robert E. Chatfield]

"Petitioning in prayer has taught me, again and again, that the vault of heaven with all its blessings is to be opened only by a combination lock.  One tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness; the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is, in God's judgment - not ours- right for us. Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much and wonder why the door does not open. We would be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does. I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by inventorying the petitions He has refused to grant me. Our rejected petitions tell us much about ourselves but also much about our flawless Father." 

Neal A. Maxwell 

 

"I fear, as a people, we don't pray enough, in faith. We should call upon the Lord in mighty prayer and make all our wants known unto him. For if he does not protect and deliver us and save us, no other power will"            Wilford Woodruff 

 

"Quit thinking that tomorrow your problems will go away and life will begin in earnest. The Lord is waiting to help you cope today if you will lay your human-size needs at His divine feet."   Paul H. Dunn 

 

Unanswered Prayer

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."¹

A friend told me about her minister whose five-year-old son told his father that he was praying for him. Excitedly his dad asked him, "And what did you ask God for?"

"Dear God," I prayed, "I don't want my dad to be a minister. Will you please make him the ice-cream man because he makes all children happy?"

We are amused by this child's prayer but I wonder sometimes if God doesn't laugh at some of my childish (not child-like), self-centered prayers. As someone else has said, God always answers prayer. Sometimes the answer is "Yes," sometimes it's "No;" sometimes it's "Wait a while;" and sometimes it's "You've got to be kidding."

Like a loving father, God knows what is best for us and answers accordingly. Of one thing we can be sure, when we come to him through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior with a sincere heart, God always hears and answers our prayers one way or another. One of the keys for getting prayers answered the way we request them is, as the Scriptures say, to pray in harmony with God's will.

 

1. John (1 John 5:14-15)