Garth Brooks -- "Unanswered Prayers"

"Unanswered Prayers" Lyrics:

Just the other night a hometown football game
My wife and I ran into my old high school flame
And as I introduced them the past came back to me
And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times
And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine
And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then
I'd never ask for anything again

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams
And I could tell that time had changed me
In her eyes too it seemed
We tried to talk about the old days
There wasn't much we could recall
I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all

And as she walked away and I looked at my wife
And then and there I thanked the good Lord
For the gifts in my life

***

God does not answer prayers as we might expect because our expectations are too small. He also answers prayers differently than we might expect because He is holy and we are not, therefore He knows what is good better than us. Our definition of "good" tends to be misguided because our minds and hearts are tainted by selfishness and sin.

The more we pray, the more time we spend we God, the more He will transform our minds to desire what is truly good, pure and beneficial. Like Garth Brookes, we might fixate ourselves on the first person or thing that appeals to us, but God has an eternal perspective, so He sees the end-product of all things, or how well things will turn out if we go after this or that.

The more we pray, the more we will discover how smart it is to have faith in God. That is, the more we trust God with every aspect of our lives the more we will discover that He is eternally trustworthy.