When God Says Yes {How God Answers Prayers | Part 3}

Today, we are continuing our mini-prayer series on the three ways that God answers prayer. He answers with a “no,” a “yes,” or a “wait.”. Check out the previous episode so you can learn more about how to respond and receive a “no” or “wait” from God so that you can still be encouraged by the heart and will of God, no matter His answer to your prayer.

Today we're talking about how to respond when God's answer to our prayer is “yes.” Obviously, this is our favorite way that God will answer our prayers because that's why we're praying to Him in the first place. This is what we want, and sometimes, many times if we're honest and if we remember, God does give us what we want. There are times He answers our prayers with a “yes.” 

Now, here's the thing that we have to be careful about. Don't miss the yes. What I'm saying is sometimes, we'll be praying about something, and we'll move on with our lives, and God will answer our prayer, and we'll forget that we even prayed about that thing. We can take it for granted sometimes. Then we'll get to a point where we'll start complaining about it.

That job that we prayed for, that family that we prayed for, being able to get into that school we prayed so fervently for, and God gave us a “yes,” and we were so happy. But then we had to carry the weight of that “yes” from God, and it can be heavy. 

Now we have to put in the work. We can choose to be thankful and remember that this is an answered prayer, or we can complain and we can become frustrated and we can forget the blessing that God has given us with the “yes” to our prayers. 

What we have to realize is that we can't assume that just because got a “yes” from God that is going to be easy. Often, there will be work and even challenges. Oh, and you better believe there just might be some spiritual warfare. So it's important for us to remember that those answered prayers are actually blessings from God to point us back to God because when you get a “yes” from God, you might face the temptation to make an idol if it. Then we forget all about the God that gave it to us. God's not going to answer with a “yes” for us to then go serve whatever it is that we prayed for. God didn’t bless you with that man, money, promotion, or ministry for you to forget Him but to glorify Him.

God has a reason why He allowed your desires to line up with His will and give us a “yes” but ultimately, as believers, our focus, our devotion, and our worship is always to him. Not the blessing, but the One Who blesses. Not the answered prayer, but the One to Whom we pray. It's so important that we remember where our “yes” came from, because if we don't, we'll be tempted to worship our answered prayers and not the God that answers.

Now I also want to make this note when it comes to answered prayers: it is okay for God to answer your prayer with a “yes.” I'm making this clarification because I know there are certain people out there that may feel guilty when you get what you want. Sometimes we feel like we have to live these sacrificial lives on the altar of inconvenience to prove to God how much we love Him. Yes, sometimes we need to make sacrifices, but sometimes God just flat out gives you what you want, and when He's trying to bless you, don't turn away from it. Don't miss the “yes.” Don't forfeit your “yes” from God because you feel like you need to prove something to God. No, receive that blessing with thanksgiving and give God all glory for it.

Now let me give you a personal example so you can better understand what I'm talking about here. When I was in college, I met my husband Donald, and y'all, I had the biggest crush on him and I didn't really know what to do with myself so I prayed to God about.

At the time we were friends and in some of the same circles, but I didn't really know how to approach the situation, so I just continued to pray about it. Donald I continued to grow in our friendship and get to know each other but I wasn't really sure if he liked me or not.

At the time I was in a season where I was trying to stay focused on God and not get distracted. I had recently come out of a relationship that did not end well, and I made some mistakes in that relationship I felt really guilty about, and I really wanted to do things right the next time. I did not want to make the same mistake again.

So when things started to grow between Donald and me, I got scared. I became fearful because it was like, wait, God's answering my prayer. I really like this young man, and I think he might like me too. Was God really working this out in my favor? And because I had the guilt of my past, I didn't really feel like I deserved this good, healthy relationship and I felt like I needed to prove to God that I would sacrifice being in a relationship to show god how serious I wad. And that's great to have a sincere devotion to God in that way. The issue was God wasn't calling me to do that. He was trying to bless me with a beautiful marriage and family, and thank God He didn't let me get in the way.

So I remember one day I walked into my dorm room and one of my friends we there and she said something to me that rocked me. I know that it was the Holy Spirit that her to say this to me because it just kind of came outta nowhere and she wasn’t even aware of what was going on. She looked at me and said, “Christina, sometimes God gives you what you want.”

I was like, “Okay” and I just walked to my room. But y'all, I knew that was God speaking to me and what He was saying was, I'm trying to bless you with the relationship with the guy you have a crush on, and you keep pushing it away. I'm trying to give you a “yes” to the desires of your heart, and I need you to receive it. 

I'm so glad that God made that message clear to me because sometimes we'll allow shame and guilt and mistakes of our past to prevent us from receiving a “yes” from God but like the song says, when Jesus says “yes,” nobody can say “no.”

So if God is giving you a “yes,” receive it. Take the territory, go forth, and enjoy it because that's why He's giving it to you. Don't push it away. You don't have anything to prove. The Father wants to bless you. Thank Him for it. Give Him glory for it and enjoy it. Instead of looking for the next bad thing to happen or what’s the catch or waiting for the next shoe to drop, enjoy the blessing of a “yes” from God. Probers 10:22 says:

God’s not trying to bait you, He’s trying to bless you. We are not called to worship the blessing but we are called to receive and enjoy it. Ecclesiastes 7:14 says:

I think of the Israelites and God giving them the promised land that He said He would but how many of you know not all of God's chosen people received the Promised Land? Why? It wasn't because God said “no.” It was because they were intimidated to go forth in their “yes” and receive all that God had for them.

There are some of you who God is trying to expand your territory. He's giving you a “yes” and you need to receive it in faith and give God all the glory. 

Now I’d love to hear from you Beloved. What’s the last prayer God answered in your life? Let’s encourage one another in the comments.

 Did you know God made us all beautifully different even in the way we pray? That’s right. Your prayer personality is the unique way you are most likely to communicate with God and knowing which of the 3  prayer personality types you have can equip you to hear from God more clearly and overcome any obstacles to your communication with Him. 

 I invite you to take my Prayer Personality Quiz to learn how you best hear from God, how you most likely connect with Him in prayer, and to just have a little fun. Take the quiz now at prayquiz.com or find the link in the description of today’s video. Then be sure to come back and comment to let me know your results.

If you enjoyed today’s videos, will you do me a favor and share it with a friend because you just never know who might need some Beloved encouragement today. 

And for more Beloved encouragement, be sure to join the Beloved Women app for instant access to the most highly curated collection of spiritual growth videos for Christian women where you can enjoy daily audio devotions, over 500 videos, and guided prayer meditations conveniently in the palm of your hand. I look forward to connecting with you there. 

As always, thank you so much for watching, and until next time, be beautiful, be blessed, and be loved.