Both

HT: Tim Challies

Does God Ever Say No?

Be careful how you answer that question: Here's J.I. Packer's thoughts:

“God’s yes is regularly a case of ‘your thinking about how I could best meet this need was right’; his no is a case of ‘not that, for this is better’ – and so is really a yes in disguise! – and his wait (which we infer from the fact that though we have asked for action, nothing yet has changed) is a case of ‘wait and see; I will deal with this need at the best time in the best way. Whether or not you will be able to discern my wisdom when I do act, that is what in fact I am going to do. Keep watching, and see what you can see” (Praying, pages 173-74).

“We have it on firm scriptural authority that the Father’s response to requests faithfully, humbly, hopefully, expectantly made by his own children, out of a pure heart and an honest desire for God’s glory, is never going to be a flat no. One way or another God’s response will be a positive response, though it may be ‘I am adjusting the terms of your prayer to give you something better than you asked for.’ Or it may be, ‘I know that this isn’t the moment in which answering your prayer would bring you and others most blessing, so I’m asking you to wait.’ Or it may be, ‘I am answering your prayer, but you don’t know the strategy I’m working on, and it doesn’t at the moment feel or look like an answer at all. Nonetheless, it is. Keep praying, keep trusting, and keep looking for what, down the road, I may be able in wisdom to let you see” (Page 177)

Hat Tip: Sam Storms 

Anticipated Answer

From Radio Free Babylon  (Click image to enlarge)

Always Inclined Toward You

"For those who are in Christ, he serves as a mediator, bringing our prayers to God. And since God the Holy Spirit indwells those who are in Christ, our prayers are by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. He hears Your spoken words, unspoken thoughts, and unclear longings. This one fact is utterly astonishing. God's heart is always inclined toward you, his face is set toward you, and his ear open for you. This explains why the Bible invites us to 'pray without ceasing' about anything, anytime, anywhere."

- Mark Driscoll,   Who Do You Think You Are?: Finding Your True Identity in Christ, page 111

Breaking the Spiritual Sound Barrier

"Just like the sound barrier, there is a faith barrier. And breaking the faith barrier in the spiritual realm is much like breaking the sound barrier in the physical realm. If you want to experience a supernatural breakthrough, you have to pray through. But as you get closer to the breakthrough, it often feels like you're about to lose control, about to fall apart. That is when you need to press in and pray through. If you allow them to, your disappointments will create drag. If you allow them to, your doubts will nosedive your dreams. But if you pray through, God will come through and you'll experience a supernatural breakthrough."

                                                                   - Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker, page 162

The Answers Will Find You

"...I learned that we shouldn't seek answers as much as we should seek God. We get overanxious. We try to microwave our own answers instead of trusting God's timing. But here's an important reminder: If you seek answers you won't find them, but if you seek God, the answers will find you.."

              - Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker, page 63

Vague Prayers

To borrow a phrase- "What happens in vagueness, stays in vagueness."

"God does not answer vague prayers.."

"The more faith you have, the more specific your prayers will be. And the more specific you prayers are, the more glory God received... If our prayers aren't specific, however, God gets robbed of the glory that He deserves because we second-guess whether or not He actually answered them. We never know if the answers were the result of specific prayer or general coincidences that would have happened anyway."

"...When you spell out your prayers with specificity, it will eventually spell God's glory."

             - Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker, pages 25-16

Remember the Answered Ones

"Many people think their prayers are never answered because it is the answered ones that they forget."

Letter by C.S. Lewis, Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C. S. Lewis, page 192