I have heard some people say that God never says no to a prayer request. I do not find that the scriptures substantiate that. James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” If you ask and do not receive that is a “no” from God. The reason we do not receive is because we have asked with the wrong motive. The thing we are praying for is not a need, it is not something that is in accordance with God’s will for us. Remember, the scripture says that if we ask anything in accordance with His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
The Holy Spirit helps us to pray in accordance with God’s will (Romans 8:26) … “Speaking with other tongues is praying as the Spirit gives utterance. It is Spirit-directed praying, and it eliminates the possibility of selfishness in our prayers” (A quote from the Gadsden Times).
We should be as grateful for the “no” answers as we are for the “yes” answers. Since it is God’s intention to give us only what is good for us, the “no” answers keep us on the right path. Sometimes due to our persistence, we may eventually receive something from God. This is sometimes granted in His permissive will and not in His perfect will. When I first became born-again, I was very self-willed. Even if God initially told me “no” to a request, I would continue to pray for it, begging Him to give it to me. I can look back and see the reasons why God said “no”. Once I received the request, it would become clear why it was not good for me.
Sometimes the answer is “wait”. The timing may not be right for that particular prayer request to be granted. God’s timing is always perfect. We have very limited vision as to what the future holds. God knows everything. He is never surprised by any earthly events. For instance, if God gave you a large sum of money to invest in real estate just before the housing market crashes, that would cause you to lose your money. He may cause you to wait until the market is better for investing.
It all comes back to faith. We have to trust God that His response to our prayers is in our best interest. We have to believe that He is capable of doing all that He has promised to do and learn to be patient when the answer is “wait”.