Rev. Billy Graham answered a question from a woman regarding God answering no to prayers by saying it was a way that our Heavenly Father protects his children.

“Let me assure you that God does love us, and precisely because He loves us, He sometimes says ‘no’ to what we request in our prayers,” Graham wrote. “Let me explain it this way. Elsewhere in your letter, you mention that you and your husband have two children. Do you give them everything they ask for? Or if they want to do something you know is dangerous, do you let them do it anyway?”

“No, of course not, and the reason is because you love them and don’t want anything bad to happen to them,” Graham continued. “Part of your responsibility as a parent is to protect your children from harm even if it sometimes means saying ‘no.'”

Graham went on to explain that God is like your protective parents.  He doesn’t want to see His children encounter harm and that Christians can’t see the future the way God can see it to know the consequences of their prayer.

“In a much greater way, God loves us and knows what is best for us —far more than we do. And because He wants to keep us from harm, He sometimes says ‘no,'” Graham asserted. “As I look back over my life, I know God sometimes said ‘no’ to things I asked him to do, and to be honest, I often was disappointed. …But later I realized God knew what He was doing, and by saying ‘no,’ He had kept me from harm.”

Graham reminded readers that God never agreed to answer all prayers.

“God hasn’t promised to answer every prayer we make,” Graham added. “He has promised only to answer those that are in line with His will. The Bible says, ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us’ (1 John 5:14).”