Psalm 21:2
You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips.

The Bible contains many examples of answered prayer. We are drawn to those passages, because obtaining our heart’s desire is pleasing to us.

But not getting what we want sometimes brings sorrow. The Bible also has examples of God not answering prayer.

Lamentations 3:44
You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.

So, the Bible has examples of answered and unanswered prayers, which is consistent with everyone’s prayer life. If we always received our requests, it seems to me that we would be tempted to come to the conclusion that we are in charge, that we are in fact God. They would soon change from requests to demands.  It would not draw us closer to God. As children, if we always get what we want from our parents, we become spoiled. And so it is with God and our prayer requests.

There have been a few times (very few, in fact) when I have prayed asking God for a request and feeling at the end of the prayer that God was going to answer that prayer. It’s probably a combination of asking and knowing that what I requested was the will of God and believing without doubts that it would come to pass.

There are other times when the asking is combined with lingering doubts. Not that God couldn’t do what I have asked, but just not being sure that it is His will. If He grants the request, what is He teaching me? If not, is He teaching me that it is not His will or is He teaching me that I need to persevere in confidence of the request?

Making our requests known to God is a learning experience for us, isn’t it? Our requests don’t change God. It changes us.

Father, thank you that you don’t grant my every request. You are in charge and You know what is best for me, even if I do not. Thank you that prayer is Your way of changing me into the person that You want me to be. Holy Spirit, bring me in sync with the will of God, so that as I pray, it changes me closer each day into the likeness of Jesus. Amen.