Anthony DeStefano - Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To: Divine Answers to Lifes Most Difficult Problems

Introduction

Too Good to Be True?

This is a book about prayers God always says yes to. Not prayers he says maybe to, not now to, or no to. Not prayers he says yes to sometimes, most times, or once in a while. This book is about prayers God says yes to all the time. Are there such prayers? You bet there are!

I know how hard it is for so many in our jaded, cynical culture to approach a book like this without rolling their eyes. But I assure you, this is not a joke or a gimmick. Nor is it one of those self-help books that preach all about personal development, the power of positive thinking, or the ability to buy real estate with no money down. This is about a spiritual treasure chest that is available to everyonea treasure chest that few people ever open. This is about prayers that workreally, truly work.

Why dont people take advantage of prayers that work? One big reason is that they are so caught up in prayers that dont always work. All over the world right now, people are shaking their heads in frustration, asking the question: Why doesnt God answer me when I cry out to him?

Why didnt God cure my mothers cancer? Why doesnt he rescue me from this horrible job? Why doesnt he get me a raise at my job so I can pay my bills? Why didnt he save my wifes brother from that massive heart attack? Why doesnt he send me a husband, or even a boyfriend, so I dont have to be alone anymore? Why did he make my son autistic, when I prayed so hard for healthy children?

Why, why, why?

Its so hard to understand: A supposedly all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving Goda God who made the sun, the moon, and the stars and has the ability to do absolutely anything he wantsyet so many times he seems to ignore our prayers or, even worse, turns us down flat. Isnt there any explanation that can help keep us from getting angry at him?

There have been thousands of books written about prayer, and millions of sermons preached about it; yet the subject still remains very much a mystery. Gods will is inscrutable, the Bible says, with the undeniable fact that this same God often refuses to grant us what we desire most?

Unfortunately, the answer is something we dont want to hear. God does say no to us an awful lot. Sometimes he says no to us when we come to him with the simplest request. Sometimes he says no to us when we are at our most vulnerablewhen we have no one else in the whole world to turn to. Sometimes he says no to us when we get on our knees and desperately plead with him to help us.

Part of the reason for all these refusals is that we are looking at prayer in a distorted way. Were viewing it, essentially, with the same kind of consumer mentality with which we view the rest of domestic living: we want this, that, and the other thing, and we want it now.

But God is not some supermarket clerk, and the world is not some huge Wal-Mart. As long as we continue to labor under this misconception, we will continue to get upset every time God says no to us. The harsh reality is that God has some very strict guidelines he goes by when considering our prayer requests, and they are sometimes difficult for us to accept.

To start with, there are requests God always says no to, no matter how earnestly we pray. For example, if we ask God for something that is obviously bad for our spiritual welfare, he is going to refuse usperiod. If a person wants to lie to his friend, or embezzle money from his job, or commit adultery with a coworker, God is not going to give him any assistance. That doesnt mean the person who wants to pursue these things wont be successful anyway. He probably will be. God hardly ever stops us from making the wrong decisionespecially when we are in a rebellious state of mind. He has given us the awesome gift of free choice, and that includes the choice to do all kinds of terrible things. But the point remains, while God may allow people to commit crimes, break the commandments, harm their neighbors, and so forth, he certainly isnt standing by providing any divine assistance. A person may make all his lascivious schemes come true, but he will do so on his ownnot because of any answered prayers from the Almighty.

Then there are the prayers God says no to for reasons that are not so obvious, even though we may try hard to understand them. There is an old expression that says God gives us what we need, not what we want. What this means is that when God decides to grant a prayer request, he uses a completely different set of criteria than we do. Like a good father, he is not concerned about gratifying our every wish. Instead, he is concerned about only one thing: our ultimate good, which boils down to whether or not we make it to heaven. Every request we make of God is evaluated by him in light of that long-term goal. When we ask God to grant us something, he says yes or no based on what he knows will happen to us in the future as a result of that decision. What direction, spiritually, are we going to go in if he says yes? What will it mean for our soul, over the long haul, if he says no? Will we be more likely to be saved, or damned, as a result of getting what we asked foror not getting it? Moreover, what will happen to the people around usthose who are affected by what we do and how we act? Will they be more likely to go to heaven or not?

Because of these kinds of global considerations, God sometimes allows things to happen to us that seem terrible, knowing that he will ultimately bring good out of them.

Everyone who has prayed for any length of time has experienced the feeling of letdown that comes with Gods refusals. I remember praying very hard once to obtain a certain job in the government. At the time I was in my twenties and not very religious. This particular job was a great opportunity for me to enter the world of politics, and I had all kinds of dreams of running for office one day and making my mark in the world. Because the position was so important to my future, I spent several days and nights intently begging for Gods assistance. I made all the usual promises to become a better person, give up my sinful ways, and go to church more oftenif only God would grant me this one little favor.

As you might guess, I didnt get the job, and as a result, the door was closed to a whole range of career possibilities. I was very upset, and while I didnt stop believing in God, I certainly wasnt happy with him. In fact, I wasnt on very good speaking terms with him for a number of months. In retrospect, though, I realize that getting that job would have been the