Prayer is a powerful thing, for it connects us straight to the throne of God. The Creator of the Universe listens to what we have to say. Like a good father he hears our petitions, our thankfulness, our cries, our fears: all of our prayers. But also like a good father, he does not always answer them the way we expect or want him to. God sees beyond what is directly in front of us; he sees the path each decision will take us. We are limited in our understanding of the future and what it holds for our lives, which is why we ask the Lord for direction - to seek his guidance for each day.
Mark 5 reads of the time when Christ restored the maniac of Gadara to his rightful mind and expelled the Legion of devils inside him. The natural reaction of this man was to be with Christ, for he had just been healed by him. Do we not seek to be with Christ after salvation in order to be closer to him? It is a natural reaction for one who has been saved from eternal damnation. However, the prayer and desire of the maniac was not what God had in mind for him. Christ knew that the people of the Gadarenes would want him gone from the country, which is why he denied the very honest and humble plea of the previously possessed man - Christ could see beyond the immediate situation of this man. Although denied his desire to be with Christ, he was given a new purpose.
We often think we know what is best for us, but if we trust God, he will show us a better way - a new path. A path that fulfills a purpose, that accomplishes the will of God...even though we do not understand where the door God has opened leads, we can trust that the path he puts us on is for the best. Christ's new purpose for the man in Mark 5 was to become an Evangelist, a Missionary to his own people. A place that Christ was denied to go, was the very place this man could go to reach his family, his friends, his neighbors with the miracle of Christ in his life. We have this purpose also, to reach out to those around us and show them the miracle of Christ in our life, the healing of our souls, the greatest gift ever given - salvation!
Do not despair when God denies your request or is seemingly deaf to your prayers. He hears you, but he knows that what you ask he can not give you because he has a greater purpose for you. One that may not make sense right now, but will forge a way to what the future holds for you. He sees beyond our limited sight and will give you a new purpose, a new desire, if you let him. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."