Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 27, 28, 29; Luke 13:1-18.
Memory Verse: “And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” 1 Samuel 28:6 (KJV)
When a man prays to God and he does not get the desired result, he often jumps to a conclusion that God has not answered him. Whereas God could have answered him without knowing. Firstly, God’s answer could be No! In which case, you will not get what you are expecting. Apostle Paul prayed that he be healed of a thorn in his flesh but God answered “No” and told him, it was necessary for him to avoid pride! ( 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). So God may give a “No” answer to your request because that is better for you than granting you “Yes” as it’s the case in that of Apostle Paul.
Sometimes, God’ s timing is not yours and His response to your request is “Not Yet”. For example, a child trying to play with a sharp knife, the mother will take it away from him so that he would not hurt himself but after some times when the child has come of age, he would be given the knife because he can now take care of himself!
In all these, you must also recognise that God may be displeased with you because of your sin. When you now make a request to Him, He may not answer you as a show of displeasure. This is what happened to Saul, having disobeyed God on more than one ocassion when he went to enquire of the Lord what he should do. 1 Samuel 28:6 (KJV) puts it clearly “And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.”
So you could have displeased God and in such cases, you need to find out what you have done so that you can correct it and be in God’s good books. Similarly, God may want to use the situation to draw you closer to Him. It’s important to note that when God does not answer you, that is not the time to abandon Him and begin to chase other sources of power as that will make you jump from fry pan to fire! This is the case with Saul. He and his household were handed over to his enemies, the Philistines the next day. ( 1 Samuel 28:19). His case would have been different if he had gone to God asking for mercy all through the night because our God is God of mercy.
Prayer: Father, in every way I have fallen short of your glory, have mercy on me in the mighty name of Jesus.
Bto. Biodun Oyapero