Never A Burden That He Cannot Bear
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9
Few verses on prayer are quoted as frequently as James 4:2: “You do not have because you do not ask God.” And few are quoted as rarely as James 4:3: “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.”
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For the Christian, there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. God’s answer may be “no” or “not yet.” But the requests of his children never go unheeded—even the misguided ones.
J. Hudson Taylor has this to say about God’s wise answers to his children’s prayers.
WALK WITH J. HUDSON TAYLOR
“Paul was distressed by a burden which he had not strength to bear, and asked that the burden might be removed.
“God answered the prayer not by taking it away, but by showing him the power and grace to bear it joyfully.
“Thus, that which had been the cause of sorrow and regret became the occasion of rejoicing and triumph.
“And wasn’t this really a better answer to Paul’s prayer than the mere removing of the thorn?
“The latter course would have left him open to the same trouble when the next distress came; but God’s method at once delivered him from all the oppression of the present and of all future similar trials.
“God’s answer to Paul is a lesson to all. Let none fear to step out in glad obedience to the Master’s command.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
God may have sent you something quite different—like more problems!
Don’t be hesitant to pray. But don’t be surprised if God answers in ways you never expected in order to show you—as he did Paul—that his grace is sufficient.
