you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
an affliction that brought suffering
and agony, and prompted Paul
to pray three times for its removal.
And God said no.
God pointed it out to him some-
how--that his "thorn in the flesh"
was being used by God for a pur-
pose.
will, He hears us. And if we know
that He hears us whatever we
ask, we know that we have what
we asked of Him" (1 John 5:14-
15). But we often ask according
to our own wills. We tell God
what
Him to promote His will in us.
timing and His will. If we would
make sure that our hearts are
right, we might receive the answers
to prayer that we seek. If we sub-
mit to God's timing, we will see
him make everything beautiful in
His time (Ec. 3:11).
This passage was referring to
the extreme injustice and op-
pression in Hebrew society, which
had alienated the people from
God. We may be indignant when
God seems not to hear our
prayers, but often the fault, as
Shakespeare wrote in
answer is no, we might ask our-
selves if our prayers are being
hindered because our heart is
not right.
The story of Elijah is set against
the backdrop of a nation that
had turned its back on God to
worship other gods. One day,
Elijah challenged the prophets of
the god Baal to a contest on Mt.
Carmel. The priests of Baal pre-
pared an altar with a sacrifice on
it, and both parties agreed that
they would pray to their god.
Whichever god answered by
sending fire from heaven to con-
sume the sacrifice would be de-
clared the one true God.
prophet's prayer of faith by con-
suming the sacrifice Elijah had
prepared. All the people fell to
the ground, crying, "The Lord,
He is God!" Elijah routed the
priests of Baal that day.
that Queen Jezebel might try to
kill him in retaliation. He took
off for the desert and, after a full
day's journey, came to rest under
a tree.
Why? Elijah's case illustrates
the answer is no, it is because
the time is not right. Elijah was
still needed to help dismantle
the wicked reign of Ahab and
Jezebel, who were Baal wor-
shipers, and to anoint Elisha as
his successor.
speaking. Later, as Elijah and
Elisha were walking along the
Jordan River, the Bible says,
"suddenly a chariot of fire and
horses of fire appeared and sep-
arated the two of them, and Elijah
went up to heaven in a whirl-
wind" (2 Kings 2:11).
couragement in knowing that
God knows best, and that His
timing is perfect.
Like Elijah and Moses, the Apos-
tle Paul is another towering fig-
ure of faith. Yet even this great
apostle of God knew the frustra-
tion felt by a praying soul when
the answer is no.
from becoming conceited because
of these surpassingly great reve-
lations, there was given me a
thorn in my flesh, a messenger of
Satan, to torment me. Three times
I pleaded with the Lord to take it
away from me. But He said to