Someone opened up to me and said: “Look, Bishop, I prayed, I cried, I asked God a lot for something, but I got no answer. Then I got discouraged from praying because it seems that God is not listening to me or if He is listening to me, He does not want to answer me.”

This person, who opened up, for sure, represents many people. People who don’t receive in the way and at the time they want. They read the situation as if God does not answer or that He has something against them. But that’s not the truth.

We are heard when we pray to God as the Lord Jesus taught us (in His name and believing). God promises to listen. There is a difference between “listening” and “attending”. There are also requests that God does not answer in the way we expect. Because this is the great problem of human beings: we have an erroneous attitude to defining for God how we want to be served. It’s like we give an order to God, and if it doesn’t come like that, we think God has failed.

In the Bible, we have many examples of people who asked God for something but were not answered in the way they wanted. However, God will always fulfil His holy, perfect, good and pleasant will.

In fact, we do not always have the answer we want, but we get the response we need. The answer God defined was the best for us at that moment.

David was very sad about the son he lost, Bathsheba’s son. The reasons that led the baby to death are unknown. It may be that God was freeing that child from evil in the future. But David didn’t stop believing in God because of that. He got up, went to the Ark of the Covenant, prayed, worshipped God, returned to the palace, bathed, asked to serve him food, and life went on. He accepted God’s answer, even if it was contrary to what he asked for. And it is this relationship that God wants us to have with Him. Sometimes the answer is “no” (and this is still an answer). Can you trust God’s sovereign will, or will you throw a tantrum like a brat? If you do this, you show that you do not understand who your Heavenly Father is.

So, the Word of God says we don’t know how to ask. We do our best. Everyone uses what they have. And God, in His mercy, considers even our difficulty in praying, our stumbles, when we manifest our faith.

What He needs from us is trust. If we remain in God’s will, in the end, what He will do for us, even if it is different from what we expected, will always be better.

Watch the video above and think about this message.