Have you ever wanted something so much that you detailed it in your prayers so God could get it exactly right? You should know about the endearing story of a little girl who prayed for a pony. When someone commiserated with her about her prayers not being answered, she said: “Oh, but God did answer. He said, ‘No.’ ”
Once, as I watched a much-desired, detailed plan fizzle out and fall apart, one on which I’d spent much time and effort, I felt all my work had been in vain. I had to remind myself of the humility and innocence of that little girl.
When I called my daughter and almost whined into the phone, “I really wanted that project to work,” her response startled me. Now, my daughter is not a cold person. But, to make a point, she offered this: “Who cares what you want?” She went on to say that I’d always taught her to ask what God wanted her to do. I was reminded that my favorite author, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “That which we desire and for which we ask, it is not always best for us to receive” (p. 10).
