A Heart of Gratitude: Gratitude in Unanswered Prayers

Years ago, Garth Brooks released a song Unanswered Prayers. The song is about a man

Do you give thanks in all things?

who runs into his former girlfriend.  He thanks God for the unanswered prayers and hopes he held for them when they were together.

I don’t know about you but I have my own set of unanswered prayers.  As I look at my life, I notice one of three responses to these unanswered prayers.

  1. Thank you Lord for not answering that prayer. You knew better and had better things in store for me.  I may not have understood it or liked it at the time being, but the Lord knew what the future held and your reasoning’s. He held me and provided comfort when my heart was broken, I worried over the future or I questioned a circumstance.  Paul wrote that we should give thanks in all circumstances , for this is God’s will {1 Thessalonians 5:8}
  2. Lord, I wish I had listened to your warnings and not taken that foolish step. I

    God knows what he has in store for us

    can’t but wonder what different direction my life would have gone if I had listened to your warnings.  The Lord says that He knows the plans He has for us and they are to prosper and not harm us, but to give a hope and future.  {Jeremiah 29:11}  Yet, at the time I thought I knew better and ignored the Lord’s warnings.  At that time I was not seeking the Lord’s best for me and it has taken years to dig myself out of the hole I dug for myself.

  3. Lord, I don’t understand why you have no answered this prayer or the reason is to wait. There are times when I don’t even like this answer, but I have to trust on you and the knowledge that you know best.  After all, we are told to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways submit to Him and He will make the path straight.  {Proverbs 3:5-6}

We do not always understand the Lord’s answer or his timing, but we are told that He only wants the best for us, to trust Him with all our heart and to give thanks in everything.

So, whatever that unanswered prayer may be, turn it over to the Lord and see what He can do with it.

Do you have unanswered prayers?

 

How do you respond to unanswered prayers? #thanksgiving #gratitude Click To Tweet

 

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