The answer to ALL your questions...

In my short, yet exciting 22 years of life, I have learned many lessons. Like I have previously stated, life is full of them. Whether they are quick and simple lessons or painful admissions of defeat, I realized the greatest tool at one’s informational disposal is prayer (no, unfortunately not Wikipedia!) I have also come to the realization that regardless of the request, God can answer any prayer with 3 different answers…

The obvious and most well received response is a simple “yes!” Upon fulfillment, you are as elated as you are in shock of the fact that your hopes and dreams somehow aligned with the His Will. It seems that God has met you in the middle and delivered the fruits of your labors of faith and hard work. It would be an ideal world if this was the only answer He had for us, but unfortunately this is only 1/3 of the equation.

Another answer that is bit harder to stomach and reduces us to childlike antics of impatience is, “wait a while.” Now, it is my opinion that God isn’t a very patient being, because if we were and He ‘made in His image’ wouldn’t we deal with it a bit better? Sometimes we aren’t ready to hear the answer to our prayers, so God asks us to wait in queue until we are better prepared to receive with His blessings. So, when you’re distraught and shaking your fist in the air at a Creator you feel has abandoned you in your time of need, be patient!

Now, as I have already said, life is full of lessons. Tests and trials shape our character and test our faith in the Lord and hope for what really is best for us. This brings me to my final point. One of the hardest, and seemingly cruel, lessons that we will ever learn in this life is that sometimes His answer to our most heartfelt prayer is “no.”