What if God says NO?

God's word says that we can ask Him for anything according to His will and it will be done. (John 14:14) He says that the prayer of a righteous man is effective. (James 5:16) He says to "pray continually" (1 Thess. 5:17) Again, Jesus says if two of us agree on anything we ask for, it will be given. (Matt. 18:19) I have spent hours, days, and years praying for something I truly believed was God's will. Others have joined me in praying and agreeing for something that we thought certainly was God's will. And yet, God said NO! We have to take all of scripture into account when we "claim" certain promises. For instance, the things that I was asking God for "looked like" His will. But there was a very important element missing.....MY heart and willingness to surrender the outcome of my prayers, and trust that if the praying did nothing else then give me the strength and courage to "press on", then His answer was YES. His will was done in that He carried me through. IF God had said YES to what I was asking for, then I would most definitely be missing out on the TIME of my LIFE...the most important season of my life to date! The season of KNOWING HIM! He said NO because He had something BETTER planned for me......He had HIMSELF.....a much better answer than the one I was looking for. Are you praying for something.....have you been asking (Matt. 7:7) ....yet the answer is not what you thought it would be? Could it be that the answer is HIM rather than the THING you are praying for? And perhaps the answer you want is still on the way? But in the meantime, God is giving you HIMSELF to sustain you, bless you, provide for you, love you......until the fulfillment of that request, which could be YES, NO or LATER. God tells us to "Cease striving and....Be still" (Psalm 46:10) ….. rest in Him. So still pour out your requests to Him; He hears! Continue to draw near to Him; He is there. (James 4:8) The great reward of our prayers is HIM....and He will give us exceedingly, abundantly above ALL we could think or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)