Skip to main content

What if the answer is NO?


Photo Credit: Julius M. Location: Monastery Door, San Antonio Texas
Have you had the experience of hearing a word from God that later in the day makes more sense than at the time you heard it?
In Isaiah 65:24 the Lord says" Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear."

At a Jill Briscoe women's event yesterday Jill said something that intrigued me: "Do you have to see a prayer answered to trust God?"

She had also said to listen with your heart and God will tell you why you are here this morning. It was a lovely morning, catching up with old friends that I had not seen for over a year. Lots of hugs and tears and promises (on my part) to meet for coffee, when time permits.
I thought that was reason why I was there!!

But no - there was a bigger reason.

Later that night at my home - the conversation turned to prayer - specifically unanswered prayer.

Back to Sunnybrook hospital - on our knees in a room pleading, begging God for Julius' healing.

The answer was "no" and then there was silence from God. Utter desolate silence and despair.

Remember leaving the hospital completely numb. 

Shattered 
       shaken 
            moving like a robot...

Of course the Lord never left us - He was and is our provider and strong tower, By His grace alone did we go through what we did, and by His grace alone do we face each new day. 

But the very foundation of our faith had shaken.

This was not the God I knew.

So today as we pray earnestly and seek Him for our deepest needs, what if He has decided the answer is already NO?

How do you pray expectantly if at the back of your mind you think that it might have been decided that it is a NO? The longer you wait the harder it is to believe that He will hear. The easier it is to give up.

I struggled with this question.

Only the Lord could answer it for me.

So as I sat in my car on a quite side street before service started (I love quite side streets) and I had a heart to heart conversation with the Lord.

And He spoke to me.

"Will you pray till you get the answer from Me Joslyn?"

Will you "pray without ceasing?" 1 Thes 5

I realized that the bigger issue was not getting the answer to our prayers but our faith in Him.

Could we trust Him again?

"Do you have to see a prayer answered to trust God?"

Dear Reader are you waiting on God for unanswered prayer?  It has been a while since you heard from Him. Circumstances look bleak. 

Pray without ceasing - He always answers.

Never guaranteed that it will be the answer you expect or want, But guaranteed that it will be the best answer for you.

Comments

  1. Unknown18 January 2015 at 17:53

    Thank you

    -Danielle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joslyn18 January 2015 at 18:59

      Thank you for reading Danielle. I am so blessed and encouraged.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Joy comes with the morning." Psalm 30

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" Three days after Julius went home to the Lord, God had given me a promise. He had spoken to me from Psalm 77. Just like He had moved the nation of Israel, He was going to make a way through the deep waters of suffering that I was in. A way that I could not see, a way that I had to trust. I had to make a choice to move forward and believe that the waters would not drown me. (Is 43:2).  I had to believe Him. It is one year and 9 months and there are days even now when the waters seem to overwhelm and there are days when I see a glimpse of the path ahead. Through the prophet Isaiah He says: 'Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness...
5 comments
Read more

A Letter to My Grandson on His First Birthday

  My darling Baby D, Today is the twentieth anniversary of an event that changed the world forever.  This event that we call 9/11 is in your history books but it is a reality that I share with you. So much more has happened to this world since then. 2020 was the year of the pandemic - this time your reality more than mine. You actually got the dreaded covid bug. It has been a year and some of isolation, masks, vaccines and fear all around us.  Each new day makes our reality uncertain and changing all the time. And yet for me this is a day of hope. 9/11 of 2020 is what I will call it. I had prayed for over five years - sometimes fervently, sometimes desperately, sometimes, honestly not at all. I often got tired of waiting but my weak faith was not going to stop God’s plan.  A year has gone by and I have watched you grow from the tiny fragile little baby, to a  boy who cannot sit still. Oh what joy you bring to my heart. I love your welcome at the condo and yo...
2 comments
Read more

Thankful

Another first... Last year we had my Papa and Julius at the dinner table. Couple of weeks later my Dad passed away - slipped away in his sleep. Six months later Julius was gone to heaven. To be honest I have asked God "What are you thinking God?" "How do you expect me to move on with so much loss and grief?" And "What is coming next?" I confess that none of these questions are answered because they are not worthy to be asked. God is Sovereign, He is Creator and He is in control and I am so comforted by His Word. In the book of Job I read: But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?      What he desires, that he does. 14  For he will complete what he appoints for me,      and many such things are in his mind . Job 23:13-14. And again in Lamentations 3 For the Lord will not cast off forever, 32  but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;  33  for he doe...
3 comments
Read more