Even If: When God Says NoSample

Day 3: Pray and Pray

For Day 3 and Day 4 of this devotional, we are going to be looking at two instances when God said no.

Today we’re going to explore the apostle Paul asking God to remove the thorn in his flesh. The Bible never tells us exactly what this thorn is that was bothering Paul. That is good news for us because it makes it relatable to whatever we might be going through. You can substitute your thorn for Paul’s and apply the same principles.

Paul got to see some wonderful things about Heaven that were indescribable. He said he was given the thorn in the flesh to keep him humble after all the amazing things he had seen. He asked the Lord to remove it, but God told him His Grace was all he needed.

What I want you to notice is that Paul was a man of prayer. He begged the Lord three times on this issue alone. In prayer is where he found his answer. God told him no and explained why in response to Paul’s prayer. Like we talked about on Day 1, God will certainly not always provide the “why”. However, if we have any chance of discovering the “why,” it will surely come in response to prayer.

Through prayer, Paul also discovered the purpose in his no. Through his suffering, he could display the Power of Christ. This made him happy, and he could then take pleasure in his weakness.

Continuing to pray when we are disappointed with God’s answer is crucial to deepening our relationship with Him. Maintaining Spiritual discipline is hard when we don’t get what we want. If we hang on long enough, we will find ways to glorify Christ in our trials. Then we too can take pleasure in our weaknesses.