No?

NO?

by Becky Dietz

I was talking with Dottie, my almost-11-year-old granddaughter, last night. She was telling me how she had prayed for a dog and had gotten one--so now she was praying for something bigger and better. I wanted to guide her and prepare her for a possible "no" from God. (I mean, God can do anything--but this is BIG and involves other people!). I told her that God sometimes tells us, "Yes!" and sometimes He says, "Wait a while." But there are other times He just says, "No." He doesn't do it to hurt us or make us mad--He knows His plan for our lives and sometimes the right thing is for Him to say, "No." He may even be protecting us from something we can't possibly see.

She replied, "Yeah...but you pray and pray and don't know that He's said 'no'--you may think He's just telling you to wait. So you just keep praying and praying!" I had to laugh! She had me there. Yeah....when do you know that God has said, "No?"

We don't. I think it's why God tells us to KEEP asking, KEEP seeking, and KEEP knocking. I even told Dottie about the story of Zecharias and Elizabeth. They'd prayed and prayed for a baby. At some point, I'm sure they quit praying--because they were getting too old to have a baby. But then...guess what? God gave them a baby--when it seemed impossible!

I'll tell you what I told Dottie last night. Let's keep praying and asking God about this. But let's keep our hands open gently. We don't know when or how God will answer. But we can trust His heart because He loves you SO VERY MUCH!