“God answers prayers in three different ways: yes, not yet, I have something better in mind.” Unknown

When I was in my mid twenties, I thought I was in love. I’ve never prayed so hard for someone to stay in my life, and I never will again. It was never God’s will for this person to stay in my life. I’ve come to realize now, this person didn’t leave me; God removed them from my life because He knew this person was not capable of loving me the way I deserved to be loved.

When was the last time God didn’t answer a prayer of yours? Have you ever prayed for wealth and wondered why it wasn’t granted to you? Maybe you prayed for a relationship or marriage. Sometimes, God’s protection comes in the form of an unanswered prayer.

There was a point in my life when I lived in poverty. Poverty isn’t always a physical place or situation; it is a mindset. God will not give you wealth while you have a poverty mindset. God knows at this point, money would destroy you. You would spend it on useless things, and it could even stunt your spiritual growth. Satan may send you wealth while you’re in this state but God won’t.

God will not send you a spouse until you’re spiritually mature enough to handle it. God wouldn’t have sent me a husband in my younger years because He knew I would’ve made an idol out of that man! Sometimes, even when you are mature enough, He still may delay the process. I saw a video the other day I strongly related to, of a woman who prayed and asked God why He had not sent her a spouse yet despite the fact that she had done the internal work and felt as though she was ready. God answered “I just want more time with you.” She got emotional as she began to relate the message to a father giving away his daughter. When and if God does send me a spouse, I want to be as close to God as I can possibly get. I want to take advantage of my single season and soak in the Lord as much as I can. I want to be so firmly rooted in my good habits and my relationship with Him that I can be a blessing to a man. I want to be a safe place for my husband. If God had sent me a husband a year or even six months ago, He would have robbed me of this time of personal growth and learning to rely solely on Him.

There are some absolutely gorgeous women in this world who struggle with their weight. I’m sure many of those women pray for God to help them lose weight. I can’t speak for everyone, but I firmly believe that a lot of times, God is protecting them by not answering their prayer. If a person isn’t spiritually mature enough to handle physical beauty and a fit body, those things can absolutely destroy them. They would likely fall victim to pride, vanity, and sexual sin just to name a few. We forget at times, God can see the future. He can see the bigger picture and how certain things we would deem as blessings would actually end up affecting us. He can see our hearts and our motives. If someone just wants to get in shape because deep down they want to control others, God sees that too. Again, I’ll reiterate, Satan may send you what you want, but you cannot serve two Gods.

Just as a child must learn to trust his or parents when they don’t give them what they want, we must learn to trust God, trust that He knows what’s best for us because He can see the bigger picture. We must have such strong faith that we know even our unanswered prayers are a gift from God.