If you have never prayed before, you may want to try. I have to share a secret with you - God has ALWAYS answered my prayers!! Every single one of them , He has provided an answer to. Knowing that He has always answered my questions helps me when I am praying unceasingly and starting to despair that He does not hear me. Knowing that He has always answered helps me to continue to pray "righteous, fervent and effectual prayers".
Part of the peace that comes with this knowledge though is knowing that God always loves me and will ALWAYS do what is best for me. Sometimes, that may not be apparent to me, but I know that whatever comes my way, whatever happens, that it is for my benefit, my growth and my stability in my walk of faith.
I will admit though that the hardest times during my prayerlife, have been when His answer was "no". As a Christian, that is one of the hardest answers to receive from God. Since He knows all and knows what is best for me, as well as what will happen in my life, He sometimes will give me a negative answer to a prayer...and that is the most difficult one to accept, especially when it is something I really want to happen in my life, something I have my heart set on. That's when it's a true test of my faith to know that His answer is for my benefit and to know that He has a greater plan in mind for me.
It reminds me of parenting (which in a nutshell is exactly what it is!). There are many times when I have told my son "no" he cannot have or do something, all in the interest of building his character, teaching him a life lesson or for another positive purpose. Well, it is the same for me with God. His "no's" though are said with love just as mine are for my son. It is because I know what is best for my son that I sometimes will tell him "no" and God treats me the same way...after all, He did tell me that "the plan He has for [me]...plans to prosper [me] and not to harm [me], plans to give [me] hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
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