1 00:00:10,770 --> 00:00:13,870 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to have you 2 00:00:13,910 --> 00:00:17,990 Speaker 1: listening with us. Today's topic is about thanking God for 3 00:00:18,010 --> 00:00:22,030 Speaker 1: the prayers he answers differently. We'll return with the devotional 4 00:00:22,210 --> 00:00:38,810 Speaker 1: after a brief message from our sponsors. Thanking God for 5 00:00:38,830 --> 00:00:42,550 Speaker 1: the prayers he answered differently. Written and read by Hannah Benson. 6 00:00:43,850 --> 00:00:46,979 Speaker 1: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 7 00:00:47,060 --> 00:00:50,300 Speaker 1: ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens 8 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher 9 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55, 10 00:00:57,940 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: 8-9 ESV I've always been a storyteller. I love classic 11 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,950 Speaker 1: period dramas where the protagonist gets their happily ever after 12 00:01:07,970 --> 00:01:12,110 Speaker 1: and the villains get what they deserve. After I graduated 13 00:01:12,150 --> 00:01:14,210 Speaker 1: high school, I prayed for a door to open that 14 00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:16,050 Speaker 1: I thought would be the right one for me in 15 00:01:16,090 --> 00:01:20,470 Speaker 1: that season. I filled dozens of pages in my prayer 16 00:01:20,510 --> 00:01:24,170 Speaker 1: journal begging God to open this door. Would God answer 17 00:01:24,220 --> 00:01:28,380 Speaker 1: my prayers the way I wanted? Looking back, I can't 18 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,979 Speaker 1: help but chuckle at my naivety. Was I disappointed when 19 00:01:33,020 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: God closed that door and led me in a different direction? Absolutely. 20 00:01:37,260 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: I didn't understand why God said no when I prayed 21 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,030 Speaker 1: so hard and for so long. All I could see 22 00:01:45,069 --> 00:01:48,190 Speaker 1: in that moment was what I thought was best. But 23 00:01:48,230 --> 00:01:51,570 Speaker 1: looking back, I am so grateful that God didn't answer 24 00:01:51,610 --> 00:01:54,570 Speaker 1: the way I'd wanted him to. If God had given 25 00:01:54,610 --> 00:01:56,950 Speaker 1: me what I wanted when I wanted it, I would 26 00:01:56,970 --> 00:02:00,300 Speaker 1: have missed out on so much. He had different plans 27 00:02:00,380 --> 00:02:05,170 Speaker 1: for me. Adventures to embark on, callings to pursue, and 28 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:07,470 Speaker 1: people to meet that never would have happened had he 29 00:02:07,550 --> 00:02:11,529 Speaker 1: said yes back then. While I thought I knew what 30 00:02:11,570 --> 00:02:14,829 Speaker 1: was best, I see now that it was God's protection 31 00:02:14,870 --> 00:02:18,430 Speaker 1: that closed that door. What are you praying for today? 32 00:02:19,490 --> 00:02:22,390 Speaker 1: Even when we pray for something good, we may find 33 00:02:22,410 --> 00:02:25,770 Speaker 1: that God answers differently than what we'd hoped for. When 34 00:02:25,790 --> 00:02:29,130 Speaker 1: he says no or wait, his higher perspective sees the 35 00:02:29,180 --> 00:02:32,110 Speaker 1: whole story. While we only see the page we're on. 36 00:02:33,270 --> 00:02:35,570 Speaker 1: Think of what you are praying for most in this season. 37 00:02:36,210 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: Maybe a career, a relationship, or a change in your circumstances. 38 00:02:41,980 --> 00:02:48,060 Speaker 1: What if God says no? What is your initial response? 39 00:02:48,980 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: I'm not talking about the response we know we should have. 40 00:02:52,700 --> 00:02:54,829 Speaker 1: We know we should trust the Lord and be grateful 41 00:02:54,870 --> 00:02:58,010 Speaker 1: for the doors God has shut for our protection. But 42 00:02:58,090 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: do we thank God? when he doesn't answer our prayers 43 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: the way we want? Honestly, ask yourself these questions. To 44 00:03:06,580 --> 00:03:09,810 Speaker 1: be transparent with you, sometimes I struggle with anger when 45 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:15,630 Speaker 1: God tells me no. Intersecting faith and life. Recently, God 46 00:03:15,690 --> 00:03:18,169 Speaker 1: showed me that I'm clinging to something I'm praying for 47 00:03:18,530 --> 00:03:21,670 Speaker 1: far too tightly. I know God is the only one 48 00:03:21,710 --> 00:03:25,669 Speaker 1: who can change my circumstances. And I felt a twinge 49 00:03:25,770 --> 00:03:28,630 Speaker 1: of distrust as I realized that God may not answer 50 00:03:28,669 --> 00:03:32,329 Speaker 1: my prayers the way I want. If this door closes, 51 00:03:32,490 --> 00:03:35,570 Speaker 1: I know I should praise him anyway and be grateful 52 00:03:35,620 --> 00:03:39,580 Speaker 1: for his protection. My prayer is that he'll change my 53 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,220 Speaker 1: heart even if he doesn't change my circumstances. But I 54 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: need God's help to trust him as I navigate this 55 00:03:46,020 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: current season. What if God says no? Will I trust 56 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,100 Speaker 1: that he will work everything together for my good? Romans 8, 28. 57 00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: Even if the answer is not what I've asked for. 58 00:03:59,060 --> 00:04:01,420 Speaker 1: When I look back on my life and the miraculous 59 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,870 Speaker 1: yeses God gave me, I know God will open every 60 00:04:04,910 --> 00:04:07,550 Speaker 1: door he wants me to walk through. I've seen him 61 00:04:07,590 --> 00:04:10,210 Speaker 1: do it countless times and know he will do it again. 62 00:04:10,230 --> 00:04:14,730 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter how impossible something seems. God can make 63 00:04:14,770 --> 00:04:18,070 Speaker 1: a way where there is no way. I've also seen 64 00:04:18,110 --> 00:04:21,350 Speaker 1: how the no's were blessings in disguise. how the prayers 65 00:04:21,430 --> 00:04:24,010 Speaker 1: I prayed fresh out of high school, when met with 66 00:04:24,050 --> 00:04:26,049 Speaker 1: a no, turned out to be one of the greatest 67 00:04:26,130 --> 00:04:31,270 Speaker 1: blessings in my life at that time. Consider Paul, originally 68 00:04:31,330 --> 00:04:35,510 Speaker 1: called Saul, for instance. He was zealous and persecuted Christians. 69 00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: I imagine many believers in the early church prayed either 70 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,940 Speaker 1: for him or about him. Perhaps they expected God to 71 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: stop their persecutor and remove him. Instead, God did what 72 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:53,429 Speaker 1: seemed impossible— He transformed the persecutor into a preacher. God 73 00:04:53,529 --> 00:04:55,830 Speaker 1: met him on the road to Damascus and flipped his 74 00:04:55,890 --> 00:04:59,370 Speaker 1: future on its head. Acts 9. God allowed Paul to 75 00:04:59,410 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: become temporarily blind so that his spiritual eyes would be 76 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,940 Speaker 1: open to the Lord. Paul then went on to become 77 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,220 Speaker 1: one of the most influential apostles in the early church. 78 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,859 Speaker 1: I'm sure people were shocked when Paul became zealous to 79 00:05:13,900 --> 00:05:16,940 Speaker 1: share the good news of Jesus. No one could have 80 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,310 Speaker 1: changed his heart. Not even Paul himself. God alone was 81 00:05:21,350 --> 00:05:25,310 Speaker 1: the only one who instigated a heart change. Paul later 82 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 1: writes in 2 Corinthians 12, of a thorn he begs 83 00:05:28,779 --> 00:05:32,900 Speaker 1: God to remove for him. God responds instead, my grace 84 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect 85 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:40,909 Speaker 1: in weakness. Verse 9. Sometimes God answers our prayers the 86 00:05:40,950 --> 00:05:44,980 Speaker 1: way we want, but other times he doesn't. But even 87 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: when we receive a no, we can thank God and 88 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: trust that his ways are higher than ours and his 89 00:05:51,220 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: thoughts greater than anything we could ever imagine. Pray with me. 90 00:05:57,339 --> 00:06:01,090 Speaker 1: Dear Father God, thank you for the times you answer differently. 91 00:06:02,050 --> 00:06:04,370 Speaker 1: Please help me to be grateful for each no and 92 00:06:04,430 --> 00:06:08,190 Speaker 1: each redirection. Please help me to trust that your grace 93 00:06:08,310 --> 00:06:12,390 Speaker 1: is sufficient for me in my weakness. In Jesus' name, amen. 94 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: If you're looking to grow in prayer or start your 95 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: day with your heart focused on the right things, search 96 00:06:22,740 --> 00:06:25,100 Speaker 1: for Your Daily Prayer in your favorite podcast app and 97 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:48,950 Speaker 1: be sure to follow the show so you get a 98 00:06:49,029 --> 00:06:52,070 Speaker 1: new prayer delivered straight to you each morning.