Hi
@TheApostleJohn, the Lord often answers our prayers in one of three ways, yes, no, or wait. Option three can be the most frustrating (just ask Job), but when "wait" (or "no") is the answer we receive from Him, it gives us the opportunity to grow in Christlikeness/sanctification in ways that a "yes" answer may not provide us with (as we patiently wait upon the One who loves us so, the One who knows us/knows what we truly need far better than we could ever hope to ourselves, the One we trusted enough to surrender the reins of our lives to when we first came to Him in faith
).
One of my very favorite verses is this one (it's an admonishment with a promise attached to it):
Psalms 37
4 Delight yourself in the Lord*, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
The first half of the verse is the only part we need to concern ourselves with. The key is not found in chasing after the desires of our hearts, the key is in chasing after Him*.
Hang in there! Praying for you!
God bless you! (
Numbers 6:24-26; Isaiah 40:31; Romans 8:28)
--David
p.s. - here are some quotes from Elliot and Spurgeon that I hope you'll find encouraging.
This hard place in which you perhaps find yourself is the very place in which God is giving you opportunity to look only to Him, to spend time in prayer, and to learn long-suffering, gentleness, meekness - in short, to learn the depths of the love that Christ Himself has poured out on all of us. ~Elisabeth Elliot
Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process. ~Elisabeth Elliot
God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. ~Elisabeth Elliot
I've learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages. ~Charles H. Spurgeon
