DIFFICULT ANSWERS
While God answers all of our prayers, sometimes He grants us what we ask for, but other times He doesn't. There are different reasons why God may deny us what we ask for. Here are three:
1. AS A CONSEQUENCE OF OUR SINS
Deuteronomy 3:23-29
v. 26 God wants no further prayers on this particular issue.
Let's see why - Numbers 20:9-12. Moses disobeyed, striking the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded. This might look like a little thing, not grave enough to warrant the punishment he received as a result. We make the same mistake in our thinking when we think that it will take only "big" sins to disqualify us from heaven. What Moses did may not look serious, but it was disobedience, and God is not at all pleased when we disobey him.
We sometimes feel that we can mess up and then pray our way out of trouble. There was no praying his way out of trouble here for Moses. He had to pay the penalty for his sin. The same was the case for David in 2 Samuel 12:15-19, when despite David's fasting for the life of his son, his son was taken from him as punishment for David's sexual immorality and the murder he orchestrated.
In school you can't pray your way out of having to read hard and study diligently. As you pray, you still have to study your course work. It is wrong to feel that you can be lazy in your study habits then make up for it by praying to God for good results.
We need to live as disciples and not compromise in the hope of praying our way out of trouble later on. We must never expect that we can willfully engage, involve or indulge in impurity and immorality and then prayer will cover up for us.
2. FOR THE GOOD OF OTHERS
Matthew 26:36-46
Here, Jesus expresses what he desires while submitting himself to what God decides.
Jesus needed to go through the crucifixion, painful as it was, for the good of others.
God may put us through difficult situations for the good of others, so, challenging as it is, we must not feel like it is a bad thing when trials that we pray to pass quickly prevail longer than we prefer. In time the big picture may reveal how God is using the trial for the good of other people, e.g. a couple that had mentally challenged children was able to make friends with, help and, in many cases, convert to Christ other couples with mentally challenged children.
In the first century, the blood of martyrs watered the seed of the word of God as men and women of great courage and godliness did not let trial and hardship cause them to being bitter or to give up.
God may use a little difficulty to achieve something great, eternal and glorious. We need to be open to being used by God in this way.
Illustration: if at someone's burial the eulogy extols how much he owned, earned and gained in life (cars, houses, land), it moves people much less than to hear of how the deceased gave of himself, shared and served during his days on earth. We are moved by those who give for the good of others.
3. TO KEEP US HUMBLE
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
When you see and experience great things, as the apostle Paul did, conceit is lurking. As a result, in this case here, God denied Paul's request for the removal of the thorn he was experiencing. God wanted to keep Paul humble.
Some of us cannot handle success. If we got what we are asking for, we might end up falling away because we love that thing, maybe a job or relationship, for example, more than God. That has happened in the past. So God may deny us our request in order to keep us humble and to keep our hearts correctly focused.
So when God answers your prayers with the answer "no", don't despair. In time it will be clear what reason He has for His answer, and as you understand the reason, you will grow in your trust of God and his good, perfect and pleasing will for your life.