No Is an Answer / Greg Laurie

 No Is an Answer

“Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9 NLT).

Imagine if God came to you and said, “I will give you whatever you want. Just ask for it.” What would you pray for?

This actually happened to Solomon when he was a very young man. He had ascended the throne to rule over Israel after his father David was gone. One night God appeared to him in a dream and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (1 Kings 3:5 NLT).

Solomon asked for wisdom to rule God’s people.

Then God said, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame!” (verses 11–13 NLT).

Is that not the perfect example of what Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:33? He said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33 NLT).

Garth Brooks sings, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers,” but the fact is that all prayers are effectively answered.

Sometimes God says no, sometimes God says slow, and sometimes God says go. In other words, if the request is wrong, God says no. If the timing is wrong, God says slow. If you are wrong, God says grow. But if the request is right, the timing is right, and you are right, God says go.

If God has said no to your request recently, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It could be a very good thing. That’s because God sees the big picture.