More Than We Can Imagine

Years ago when I was a young man, I fell in love with some girl and thought she was the one I was supposed to marry. I never proposed to her. The bottom line is that she was nice to me but really wanted nothing to do with me.

I thought, “She is the one. But why doesn’t she know she is the one?” It’s because she wasn’t the one. Then I met my wife, Cathe, who was the one for me, and we have been married for 44 years.

A while back, Cathe and I ran into this girl. I looked at her, and then I looked at my wife, who is very beautiful, and I thought, “Thank you, Lord.” I don’t say that to be unkind but to simply affirm that God’s plans are better than ours.

It isn’t wrong to pray for the things we need in life. But we need to understand that God’s plans for us are better than our plans for ourselves. His plan is better than yours. Psalm 84:11 says, “No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (NKJV). If it is good, then God will give it to you. If it is not good, then God won’t give it to you.

The real focus of prayer should not be on us but on God. It should not be on what we want but on what God wants. Really, ultimate prayer is when we get our wills aligned with God’s will and then pray accordingly.

There are times when we pray for things fervently and believe they are God’s will, but God says no. We are upset. Then later in life we say, “Thank you, Lord, for not giving me what I prayed for.” God’s will is better than our own.