When we pray to the Lord, we hear so many accounts and stories about people who pray—George Müller and other prayer heroes and warriors of faith. They believed what they were praying for, and they believed that exactly what they prayed for they were going to get, that God would say yes to their request.
These men would pray fervently, pray hard, and never give up. They would have undeniable, miraculous faith for an impossible request, and God might answer it. It is incredibly amazing.
We wonder, “Why do they have it? Why don’t we have it?”
So we pray in faith and try our best to put everything we can into our prayers. But let’s be honest: God doesn’t answer all the time.
There are people who become discouraged. They wonder, “Is there something wrong with me?”
Usually, when you talk about the power of prayer, you would think about the mighty fruits that came out of it, the results, and basically how God answered yes and then gave them miracles.
But Pastor Kim would beg to differ. That is not the complete perspective of the power of prayer. You might say, “What do you mean by that? When God says yes to your prayers…”
Yes, that is part of the power of prayer, but that is not the holistic perspective.
The power of prayer is how God answers.
Pastor Kim would like to talk about the power of no.
Pray According to God’s Will
The first thing we have to think about is that we know in prayer we have to pray according to God’s will. If we pray according to God’s will, He will answer that. Pastor Kim has shown verses on that and done teachings on it before in prayer, so he will not repeat all of that here.
Didn’t you realize that even though you pray according to God’s will, and even if it is God’s will, God will still say no?
God’s Will and the Reality of Sin
When we give requests to the Lord, think about this: Isn’t it God’s will that He wants every single person to be saved?
Yes, that is God’s will.
2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
But guess what? Not every soul that you pray for gets saved.
Isn’t it God’s will? Sure, it is His will. But from the reality stated in Scripture, not everyone gets saved. That is the first thing you have to realize: when you pray to the Lord, He is going to say no. Why?
There are factors behind this. One is the reality of sin and free will.
The Reality of Sin and Free Will
There is a loved one who is dying or very ill and sick, so we pray for people to be healed. There are people who unfortunately die. There are persecutions, even from enemies or people attacking you. There are dangerous situations that come up, and you pray for God’s protection.
But when bad and tragic situations happen in our world, the Bible says in
Genesis 6:11: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”
Genesis 6:13: “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
Notice that there was so much corruption and so many tragic situations happening.
Genesis 6:6 “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
There was something that God definitely had a change of mind concerning. His will was that He did not want sin and tragedy in the world.
He does not want that. That is pretty obvious from Genesis 6:6, 11, and 13.
But guess what? That did not stop it. Corruption still continues. Crime happens. Murder still happens. Kidnapping still happens. Stealing still happens. Unfair situations happen. You can pray as much as you want, but it is not going to change that fact.
Even though God’s will is behind your prayer—that He does not want these bad things to happen—they still happen.
Why?
Because Scripture shows us the reality of sin and free will.
God Does Not Force the Will of Man
Jeremiah 32:35: “And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”
Notice right here that it was certainly not in God’s will. It did not even come into His mind that they should do this wicked thing. These Jews were sacrificing babies.
We have to understand the reality of sin and the free will of man.
Man has a free choice. God is not going to change their desire and will to every whim that He wants it to be. He does not force them.
Human Beings Have a Will
1 Chronicles 28:9: “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
Notice right here that it is up to the individual to get right with God. God does not force something to happen. Suppose you pray: “Lord, I want my prodigal child to come back home.”
The Lord cannot do it by changing that person’s free will. Is it possible for their free will to resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit and God’s desire for them?
Yes, it can.
Acts 7 gives an example of this. Even though your prayer is aligned with the will of God, that person can still resist against it.
Sin Must Be Reaped
Why is there starvation?
Why is there famine?
Why is it that when you pray for God’s protection and ask God to take care of an individual, the Lord allows bad things to happen?
This is why people can fall into the trap of blaming God when their prayers are not answered. But you cannot blame God.
You have to recognize the reality of sin and the free will of man.
It is not God because God’s will is that these bad things would not happen. His will may be aligned with your prayer, and He wants to answer it, but He cannot go against the reality of sin and free will.
Sin has to be reaped when it is sown. Corruption has to be reaped from sin.
Galatians 6:8: “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
The Inevitability of Apostasy
There are people who pray for revival. You hear these prayer warriors praying for revival, and sometimes God did mightily answer their prayers. He moved in amazing ways. Then some of these prayer warriors would preach against people who had not prayed for revival, saying that this was why there was no revival.
Pastor Kim believes there is truth in the importance of praying for revival in our current day and situation. However, that is only a partial picture. The full picture is that, yes, prayer for revival is important, but no matter how much you pray for revival, the world will still fall into apostasy. People will still fall into apostasy, apostasize, sin, and mess up.
Why?
Because of the reality of sin and free will. God does not go against that. And, according to Scripture, apostasy is inevitable.
2 Thessalonians 2:3: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”
No matter how much you pray about that, the Bible says there will be a falling away first.
Persecution Cannot Always Be Prayed Away
You may pray: “Lord, please protect me from this evil and this bad situation and this danger.”
We pray about these things. But not all the time does the prayer get answered in the way we want. You have to understand that this is not something for which you should become bitter and mad against God. It is the reality of sin and free will.
No matter how much you pray, if you live godly, you still have to face some kind of harm, attack, or persecution. You cannot simply pray it all away. No matter how much faith or prayer you have, you will have to face something bad one day.
2 Timothy 3:12: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
Many Will Still Reject Salvation
You can pray for souls to get saved as much as you want. God’s will may be behind it. You might have fasted, put a lot of faith into it, prayed according to God’s will, and lived a clean life. But no matter how much is done, you cannot change the free will of man or the reality of sin because Scripture establishes that reality.
So why get discouraged? Why get a guilt trip? Pastor Kim wants you to be delivered from that.
Do not think you are necessarily doing something wrong. You can do everything right, and God can do everything right with your prayer, and mankind can still say no. God can work on a person’s heart. He can convict them. He can work through situations to bring them to salvation. They can still resist.
Matthew 7:13: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:”
You can pray for souls to get saved, but many will still enter the way that leads to destruction. God’s will is not behind their rejection of Him, but that is the reality of sin and free will.
Therefore, when God does not answer your prayer in the way you wanted, do not blame yourself and do not blame God. Recognize the reality of sin and the free choice of man.
The Danger of God Saying Yes All the Time
Another thing you have to understand is this:
What if God answered yes all the time to your prayers? Especially with your past history of how you lived with sin, imagine what would happen.
There are Christians who live like the devil and sometimes deserve a big spanking. What if God answered that person’s prayer request all the time? If that happened, they would not receive the correction they deserved.
God sometimes answers no.
Why?
Because if He answered yes all the time, you might be encouraged to keep backsliding and living wrongly. You might never learn your lesson.
If you want your prayers answered, God may be saying: “Then fix this first, child, and then maybe He can start answering your prayers.”
That should not merely discourage you. It should motivate you and convict you.
You might say, “I don’t like that because I deserve it.” But do you really want God to answer your prayers when you have not gotten things right with Him? If God keeps answering your prayers while you continue in sin, you can end up in more serious trouble.
You can develop a dependency and an ungrateful attitude, as though everything is given and granted. You can begin to think: “I can do whatever I want.” That can cause more harm than good.
This is why punishment and prevention exist. Laws contain consequences so that people will not simply do whatever they want. Without such restraints, there would be chaos.
Moses Prayed and God Said No
Moses was a prayer warrior. He knew how to pray. He knew the Scriptures. He knew how to approach God. Yet God said no to Moses.
Deuteronomy 3:23-26: “And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.”
Moses knew the prayer secrets. He focused on God’s glory. He prayed with humility. He did everything that we might consider necessary for powerful prayer. And God said no. God told him to speak no more about the matter.
Why?
Because Moses deserved it. That is another thing you have to understand. If God does not answer your prayer, you have to ask yourself: “Is there something wrong with me?”
Sometimes the answer is yes.
David Prayed and God Said No
At first, hearing this might sound like gloom and doom. But the answer is not to become discouraged. The answer is to become more responsible with your free choices. Sin is serious.
Now consider David. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. David was one of the greatest prayer warriors you will read about in the Bible. He also fasted.
2 Samuel 12:16: “David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.”
David prayed for the child. He fasted. He wept. He prayed fervently.
Yet verse 18 says:
“And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died.”
God did not answer David’s prayer in the way David wanted.
David prayed: “Lord, save my child’s life.” But God did not spare the child.
Now what did David do? This is an important reaction to learn.
What should you do if God answers no to your prayer?
What if you prayed for the prodigal to return?
What if you prayed for a soul to get saved?
What if you prayed about a tragic situation?
What if you prayed for revival and it did not happen?
What should you do?
Look at David.
2 Samuel 12:20: “Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.”
David worshipped. His servants asked him why he had acted this way. While the child was alive, he fasted and wept. After the child died, he arose and ate.
David explained in verse 22:
“And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?”
But then the child died. David understood that he could not bring the child back. He did not remain in endless bitterness and grief. Nothing good comes from simply continuing to weep, cry, and become bitter.
Even though bad things happen, you do not have to keep going that way. You can find something else that is good. That person did not get saved, but another person can get saved.
“Lord, will You save that person’s soul? I’m going to keep praying for that other soul.”
Perhaps someone did not get saved, but God can use the funeral service so that stubborn family members hear the Gospel and other people get saved. One person goes to hell, but perhaps fifty others could get saved.
Find something good. That is what you need to do. The prodigal, tragic scenarios, revival, and everything else you go through—you have to find something else good that you can pray for and have. Do not go back to the past old one that is dead and cannot be brought back.
Hezekiah: When God Answers Yes
Pastor Kim does not want people to become discouraged. He wants people to understand the importance and power of what they can do through prayer.
Why would God answer no to prayer requests?
A lot of times we try to seek God’s will when we pray. But to be truly honest, we do not know everything concerning God’s will.
Because we do not know everything about God’s will, there will be times when God says no. God’s will is better than what we would want.
What if God answered every prayer request you made in life? It would be a nightmare for you.
That is the power of no.
What you think is God’s will may not actually be God’s will. Anything that is not God’s will is going to be a worse scenario or something you would not want. If God answered a prayer request that was not according to His will, while you thought it was His will, your life would be a mess.
Consider Hezekiah.
Hezekiah was dying, but he was able to change God’s mind and get God to answer his prayer.
2 Kings 20:2-5: “Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.”
God answered yes. God healed Hezekiah.That must be a good thing, right?
Not necessarily.
After God healed him, Hezekiah showed the Babylonians his kingdom, which was a foolish thing. God said that because of this, his kingdom would be destroyed—not in his time, but later.
He also had a son named Manasseh. Manasseh became one of the most evil kings among the Jewish kings. Hezekiah had to suffer that kind of record and sorrow.
If Hezekiah had died earlier, he would not have had that son or experienced those later events.
The Prayer of Jabez
Many people have heard of the Prayer of Jabez. When people talk about the power of prayer today, they often turn to Jabez.
Pastor Kim points out that Pastor Donovan has argued that the Prayer of Jabez is actually a bad example of prayer.
People might say:“But God did answer it.”
Yes, God did answer it.
God has answered prayers before that were fleshly. Why?
Because He is a merciful and gracious Father. But that does not necessarily mean it was for your good.
Pastor Donovan argues that this is not a good example of prayer because it can show feeding the flesh.
Let Pastor Kim put it another way.
Have you ever prayed for something that you wanted very badly, God answered, and then you regretted it?
Be careful when you get mad at God and become bitter: “Lord, if You would only do this…”
God just might give you what you want. Then you may regret it.
There can be good gleanings and prayer secrets in Jabez’s prayer, and Pastor Kim does use some of them. However, it is only a partial picture if the negative parts of the prayer are ignored.
In this case, the danger of answered prayers is the point. The answer was yes, but the yes itself was not necessarily the demonstration of power.
Thank God That He Answers No
Pastor Kim hopes this teaching encourages people, even though it may not sound like positive or prosperity-gospel teaching. Some people have become discouraged. They have put so much faith into a prayer. They have fasted. They have cried about it. Then it did not work out. Eventually they may begin doubting God’s power or becoming bitter toward Him.
This teaching can change that thought pattern.
Thank God that He answers no.
Why?
Because you would have burned in hell if God had answered one particular prayer with yes.
Look at Matthew 26.
Jesus Christ prayed. Jesus Christ never sinned. He should have had more reason than anyone to have His prayers answered.
Matthew 26:39: “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Then verse 42 says:
“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”
Jesus prayed this three times. He prayed fervently. He prayed with more spiritual fervency than any prayer warrior. And God answered—not yes.
Thank God.
Otherwise, you and I would have burned in hell. Thank God for not answering that prayer yes. You would not be here today if Jesus Christ had not gone to the cross.
What makes you think you are better than Jesus Christ and that God should answer yes to you all the time?
The Power of God’s No
If God does not grant your request, that does not mean God does not answer your prayer. We often call it an unanswered prayer because He did not give us what we asked for. But in reality, He did answer.
If God does not grant your request, He has already given you an answer:
No.
When God says no, it is still an answered prayer.
There is still fruit, power, and result that comes out of a no, just as there is fruit, power, and result that comes out of a yes.
Look at Paul’s example.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Paul prayed to be healed. He prayed for the ministry’s sake and for the glory of God. He had what we might consider all the right things for an answered prayer.
Yet God said no.
What did God say?
“My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Was that lacking in power? No.
Paul said:
“Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
That is the power of no.
When you pray: “Why won’t this happen, Lord?” God may be speaking to you.
Sometimes, later in life, something will happen, you will hear preaching, you will read the Bible, or you will experience something that makes a realization come into your mind.
Suddenly, the light bulb goes on. You will understand why. Then you accept it. And you can even thank God when He said no to your prayer.
Thank God for those no’s.
The Testimony of Prayer Warriors
Pastor Kim has many quotes from prayer warriors that he intends to put into his book because he has read so much material about prayer.
There is not, in his view, Bible-believing material that combines all the prayer warriors together, so the book will be composed of Scripture and quotations.
Here are a few quotations that are especially helpful.
Oswald Chambers, who wrote My Utmost for His Highest, said:
“It will be a wonderful moment for some of us when we stand before God and find that the prayers we clamoured for in early days and imagined were never answered, have been answered in the most amazing way; and that God’s silence has been the sign of the answer.”
If we always want to be able to point to something and say, “This is the way God answered my prayer,” God cannot trust us yet with His silence.
Charles Spurgeon said:
“If the Lord will but hear us, we will leave it to his superior wisdom to decide whether he will answer us or no.”
Spurgeon also said:
“It is better for our prayer to be heard than answered. If the Lord were to make an absolute promise to answer all our requests, it might be a curse rather than a blessing, because we would be given the responsibility of our lives upon ourselves. and we will be cast in a very anxious position. But the Lord hears our desires, and that is enough. We only wish Him to grant them if His infinite wisdom sees that it would be for our good and for His glory.”
Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who was also known for his prayers, said:
“God will either give you what you ask or something far better.”
F. B. Meyer said:
“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer.”
The Greatest Tragedy Is Unoffered Prayer
As Pastor Kim closes this teaching, he wants to emphasize that the greatest tragedy is not unanswered prayer.
It is unoffered prayer.
When you do not pray, you might wonder: “Why should I pray if God might say no?” Because those prayers are still needful. If you pray those requests, they are still coming up to God. And what God does is send the Holy Spirit to teach you and correct your prayers.
Romans 8:26-27: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
God understands that you do not always know how to pray correctly. The Holy Spirit helps. It is almost like the Lord takes your list of requests and says: “No, no, no, no, no.”
Then He writes the correction above it: “Here is the correct thing to pray about.” Then He can answer those things in mighty ways.
That is why it is important to offer prayers. If you do not offer the prayers, the Holy Spirit cannot take those words and bring them before the Father in order to correct them according to God’s will.
So the greatest tragedy is not unanswered prayer.
It is unoffered prayer.
Offer your prayers.
They may be incorrect.
They may be wrong.
You may be afraid.
You may think:
“I don’t do anything right.”
But God understands.
He loves you.
He knows.
He can take what you mean to say and correct it.
Faith in How God Answers
It is hard to have faith in prayer if you think faith means God must answer yes.
But what kind of faith should you have?
Your faith should be in God and how He answers, not simply in receiving the yes that you wanted.
You can pray: “Lord, whatever is going on in this life, these are things that may result in a no. But I trust whatever You do with these prayers. You are going to give the best scenario. You will always do what is best. I trust You. I believe in that. I have faith that when I pray these requests, You have the power to answer them, and You can make them come to pass the next day. And my faith doesn’t stop there. I also have faith that when You say no, or when these things cannot happen, You are still going to do what is best.”
However God answers, trust Him.
Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Notice that this famous passage says that everything that happens in life God will somehow work for good.
But notice the context.
Verse 28 begins with “And,” tying it to what came before.
Verse 27 says the Holy Spirit makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Verse 26 says:
“For we know not what we should pray for as we ought.”
Then comes the promise:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Isn’t that encouraging?
That is the answer to no.
Bad News That Becomes Better News
We hear bad news quite often.
However we pray, there may be bad news.
But those bad news can actually turn out to be better news—not necessarily good news in the way we initially wanted, but better news because of how God works it out.
That is why you cannot continue insisting on your desires, your ways, and your yes prayers.
You have to trust God with it. That is the power of no.