Answers | To Your Questions About the Bible, Theology and Christian Living

How do you know when God has said “no” to a prayer request?
Abby, 11

God always wants what is best for us. So we should start by praying the way God wants us to. The Bible says we can have confidence that God hears us when we ask according to His will (1 John 5:14). God doesn’t want us to pray for things that are selfish or not good for us. That’s why a lot of prayers are not answered (James 4:3).

God delights in saying “yes” to a prayer. But sometimes He says “no.” And at others times He says “not yet.” So even if you’ve been praying for a long time, it doesn’t mean that the answer is “no.”

The best thing to do is make sure you are praying in a way that pleases God and listen for His voice in your spirit. If you are sincere about wanting what God wants, He will send you the right answer at the right time.

Ken Horn

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God cares about every portion of your life … the big things and the small. Lots of Christians admit to praying for a parking place at the mall. The needs of a living creature are certainly more important than that.

It has been clearly demonstrated that pets can have significant health benefits for people. That’s one of the reasons therapy dogs and therapy cats are in use today for institutionalized or shut-in patients. Recent studies indicate that people with pets live longer, healthier lives. They can be a very good thing for some people.

And the Bible is clear that God values even animal life, which are a part of His creation.There seems to be a glimpse of this in Jonah 4:11 (NIV): “But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

It is more pronounced in the New Testament. In Luke 12, Jesus addresses the eternal value of a soul, as well as the value of small things. Verses 6 and 7 say, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

Children can learn compassion and kindness by watching how adults treat animals.

Yes, it is appropriate to pray for sick or injured pets, as well as for other small areas of our lives … but Christians should pray far more about things of eternal value. We just need to keep things in perspective.

Ken Horn

Some other scriptures about animals:

Exodus 20:8-10 Even work animals deserve a rest.

Deuteronomy 22:10 Don’t mismatch work animals. It would cause undue suffering for mismatched animals to be yoked together. (There’s a human application to this as well.)

Proverbs 12:10 People are expected to be kind to animals.

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