Does G-d always answers prayers? Absolutely. Sometimes, though, the answer is “no”.
A child begs his father for some candy. Crouching down beside his young boy, the father tells him, “I’m sorry, you can’t have any now”. Inevitably, the child begins to cry and beg more.
What’s the big deal? Can’t the father just let his kid have some sugar once in a while?
What the child doesn’t understand is that he has a serious diabetic issue. By his father being so “kind” as to purchase the candy, he’d be sending his son down a one way street to the nearest emergency room.
G-d knows every detail of our lives better than we do. Everything that happens to us is carefully calculated, like pieces of a puzzle fitting together. When we desperately pray for things that we don’t end up getting, it’s not that the prayer didn’t work. It’s just that G-d knows what is best for us.
It is known that no prayer goes wasted. Each time you pray to G-d, although it may not get you what you wanted, it is stored away for another time.
Story
I am in a line of business which is pretty competitive and live in the same neighbourhood as another individual with the same profession. Our paths often cross, which is fine – we’re friends.
Last week I heard that one of my past clients was using my friend’s services instead of mine. It was nothing personal – she had received a gift voucher for my friend’s services and just wanted to save money.
I was glad my friend (let’s call her Rachel) had gotten business, but I couldn’t shake of the feeling of, “I wish I had the job. They are, afterall, my clients!”
I shared my thoughts with a close friend, who told me, “You never know what could happen. What if you were offered you a job on that day which was 5 times the profit? Would you be so upset that you hadn’t got the first job in the end?”
That really resonated with me, and I decided she was right. Everything G-d does is for my best and He can see what’s coming. It’s obviously for my good that I didn’t get the job.
The next day I was in my office when my child’s babysitter calls. “Hi, um, your son really doesn’t look well…I think you need to get him checked out.”
A few hours later I found myself sitting in the emergency room, my two-year-old hooked up to a ventilator. Thank G-d he had treatment and was fine to return home that evening. As I came down the path to my apartment, I almost knocked into…Rachel, rushing to get to the job I had so desperately wanted!
It was so clear to me then that it was not meant to be. My child needed his mother and I would never had made it to the job anyway!
There are countless stories like this – you experience them too, every day – just look out for them!