Erie Seventh-day Adventist Church

For my morning devotional this morning I read these words:

 

The assurance is broad and unlimited, and He is faithful who has promised. When we do not receive the very things we asked for, at the time we ask, we are still to believe that the Lord hears and that He will answer our prayers. We are so erring and short-sighted that we sometimes ask for things that would not be a blessing to us, and our heavenly Father in love answers our prayers by giving us that which will be for our highest good--that which we ourselves would desire if with vision divinely enlightened we could see all things as they really are. When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. But to claim that prayer will always be answered in the very way and for the particular thing that we desire, is presumption. God is too wise to err, and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly. Then do not fear to trust Him, even though you do not see the immediate answer to your prayers. Rely upon His sure promise, "Ask, and it shall be given you." {Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 96}

 

We get so impatient when our prayers don’t seem to be answered the way we want to or when we want them to be answered. But the words above remind us that God still answers our prayers, with the answer that He knows to be best for us, with the answer we would choose if we knew, like Him, the end from the beginning, the answer that, looking back, we know to be best for us and which brings us the most good.

 

I can recall so many times when I wanted something and yet it didn’t happen as I had wanted, which brought great disappointment,  only to receive later something many times better than what I had hoped for or prayed for. If I had planned my life, it would most likely not be the way it has turned out; and yet, I’m very happy with the way it has turned out.

 

So, pray without ceasing and then watch to see what the Lord has in store for you. Then, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.