WHEN GOD SAYS NO

Sermon as delivered by Karen Brown M.Ed at Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women on March 8, 2026

• There are times when the one thing we want is the one thing, we seem to never get…we pray and wait…no answer…no or not right now must be the answer.

• Can I ask us a very important question? What if God says no? What if the answer is delayed or denied? When God says no…How do we respond?

• If God says “I have given you my grace and that is enough”, can we be content? Content is a state of heart in which we are at peace if God gave us nothing more than He already has! Paul prayed three times for his thorn to be removed. 1Cor 12:7.

• Do we realize that prayer is talking to God because He listens? Our voice matters in heaven, and He takes us seriously. When we enter His presence, we are not ignored. We can stutter, use simple words, cry and it may not impress anyone but God.

• The price of anything is the amount of life we are willing to exchange for it. How much time are putting into prayer and conversation with God?

• Some people stand up here and pray out loud for the first time. I guarantee their prayer life grows after that.

• That growth cost them some comfort but staying comfortable will cost you some growth.

• In our prayer life and daily life, the words we speak become the house we live in.

• Sometimes God may prioritize doing a miracle in our hearts and minds before our circumstances.

• PRAYERLESSNESS is the biggest obstacle in the road to a believer’s victory…no matter what the want is…PS. 17:6-8

•  Sometimes life gets so tough that even the most faith filled Christian has difficulty praying for a breakthrough!...Sometimes we are afraid of praying for miracles because we are afraid that God won’t answer, but the answer is not up to us! We never know if the answer will be yes, no, not yet. But the answer is not up to us! It is not our job to answer; it is our job to ask! “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”…ask, seek and knock are verbs…in other words something we do and more than once! Mt 7:7 and Luke 11:9

• However, obedience to God in a difficult situation will bear fruit. Even though it might cause hardship at first. PROV. 16:3…James 1:22 (the Message).

• What are God’s answers to prayers? God considers our requests through the lens of His perfect will.

  
  

1-Yes immediately,  2-Yes in due time, 3-Yes so we learn from it, or 4-NO

1. Sometimes our request is in line with His will, with His timing and answers on the spot. Isaiah 65:4 “before they call, I will answer”…Abraham and Isaac prayed for a wife for Issac in Gen. 24 and v15 says “before he had finished speaking a young woman named Rebekkah appeared…God is simply not bound by time. He may answer a request ten years before you pray it or be preparing things right now for prayers you will one day pray if you pray them!

2.  A delay is not a no. If some of you all asked your mom for a wedding dress at 9, you likely had to wait. Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for years for children. It was a big thing back then. When they had given up hope and older, in Luke 1:13 they are told of a son coming. It may have been years since they prayed for a child but here came John the Baptist! How about Joseph, in prison on a lie but eventually became second in charge. This is why we never let yesterday’s unanswered prayers stop us from praying again, today and tomorrow with just as much freedom and faith. WHEN GOD SAYS WAIT…….

W….walk in His presence and timing

A…..align with His will

I……invest in His Word

T…..trust in His plan…Trust in God

3.  Sometimes God does give us what we ask because He thinks we need to learn a lesson from it. He gives us what we are asking even though we don’t really know what we are asking for. In Samuel we learn how the people kept asking for a king like other countries but read how that turned out. We are better off trusting Him to give us what we need, when we need it and when we are ready for it. Luke 22:42 “nevertheless not my will but yours be done” even Jesus prayed and He faced the cross!

4.  No, can be the answer because our heart is not right, our motives not right, etc. James 4:3 ”you ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures”…If lust, greed, bitterness, or pride is at the heart of the requests, God will say no. Proverbs 1:28-29 “they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord”. Our attitude and behavior, the true condition of our hearts can stand between our request for help and its arrival. It can be No; He has a better plan. Mary and Martha thought the answer was no, but Jesus was waiting to raise Lazarus so people could glorify Him.

• We are allowed to pray big prayers! Ps 84:11 “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly”

• For years—with deep and often painful longings-I have pleaded with God to grant a particular request. My request seems consistent with God’s will. I have fasted, practiced solitude, repented regularly, recruited prayer warriors and approached God with genuine faith, humility and no shortage of tears

• So far, He has proved one consistent answer…NO!

  However, God has used my countless hours of praying for a second chance to reveal Himself to me and increase my love for Him. But I can’t help but ask “Why God?”

• The fact that God has said No, SO FAR, does not mean I am doing something wrong, just means I am not God.

• My greatest spiritual growth has happened when God has perpetually said no. (2 Cor. 12:7-10)

• WE have to believe that God knows better than we do, and His “NO” is always merciful even when it hurts! Sometimes we can be more concerned with not getting what we want than seeing where God wants us.

• The apostle Paul prays repeatedly for healing from the thorn in his flesh, but the Lord refused, saying “My grace is sufficient for you” 2 Cor.12:9

• The greatest, no, in the Bible is Matthew 26:39 where Jesus cried “My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me”

• If I had rebelled against God’s denial it would have damaged me internally and spiritually.

• God has said No to you and me, His no, may be a yes to something bigger and better though.

• If you want to see God move, make a move yourself! (Mark 16:20) Faith is an action verb not a noun!

• Heb. 4:16…Bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers!!! Luke 18:5 “This woman is driving me crazy!” Here I think crazy is another word for persistent! How desperate are we for the breakthrough, the blessing?

• Sometimes I think if we do the little things like they are big things, then God will do the big things like they are little things! (Matt. 17:20) (Eh 3:20)

• Quit talking to God about our problems and start talking to our problems about God! This could mean putting the devil under our feet, and sometimes it means putting our friends in check.

•  Prayer is the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you. I don’t know about you but if we are picking teams, I pick God first each time!!! Prayer is the difference between the best we can do and the best God can do. Luke 11:1 “Lord teach us to pray”, maybe we pray daily!

• God is not a genie in a bottle and your wish is His command-His command better be our wish.

  Whether we are getting yes no wait…if we want to break sin habits in our lives, we have to establish a prayer habit. (Matt. 17:21)

• The devil will try and  attack us with the NO’s we get as answers to prayers. I am asking us today to not let the devil attack us because we are weak. Let him attack us because we are a threat! Because there is something valuable inside of us! Devil is a thief and a liar. Thieves do not break into empty houses. He has not been able to take us out so he will try to wear us out! Don’t know about you, but I am ot giving in! I will not let a life serve out, surgeries, disappointments cause me to give in because any day, one prayer away could be the turning point. God knows we are tired; He sees when we are trying to put Him first.

• When I am not sure of the outcome, I am sure of my God!

• We can’t change the past but we can change what we do next. Life does not come with a rewind button and we can’t undo what has already been done but what defines us is not the past, it is how we rise from  every mistake. Every setback can be a lesson. We have the power to choose and not let our past be our prison.

• When it becomes god’s plan nothing can stop it-not the setback, not the betrayals, not the delays and not the no’s!

• When we let Him write our story, no enemy can erase it- no obstacle can destroy it.

• We might have to walk thru some no’s, some fires, some trials but remember they are not there to burn us, or break us. They are there to reveal our strength.

• Doors will slam in your face, people will walk away, and the world will doubt…let them.

• Let them misunderstand you, underestimate you, laugh at your dreams, because the one who calls us may have already paved the way.

• Trust the process, trust all the no’s! Let the no be a protection and redirection.

• The world and flesh may scream at you, it is impossible but when God says move there is proof in the Word that mountains bow down, oceans split (Red Sea) and chains break (Paul and Silas, Peter)

• I don’t know about you but I want my destiny to be bigger than anyone’s doubts including my own. Again Paul, Joseph, Abraham, Gideon, etc.

• We are not praying to be able to handle trauma of no in our lives. WE are used to trauma. We are praying to be able to handle the joy of when those yesses come!

• Sometimes deliverance looks like prison, sometimes rehab, sometimes a hospital visit, sometimes a shock of a serve out, just know that God will do whatever it takes to get our attention.

• Sometimes people still say “Karen, you have a life sentence serve out, do what you want.” My response is I am not only praying for a miracle but living for a miracle and believing for a miracle. I want us all to do that!

• The devil tries to tell me I can’t pray like that, that it is too much. Well I sy no answer is impossible for God!

• God has put a big vision in my heart, and I pray all of yours. Even if we don’t understand everything, it is time to release our faith and begin asking God to bring it to pass. He will show us what steps to take. We sing Trust in God as our theme song. Are we believing Him for what is best, what we need at just the right time?

• Let me share what I will continue to do when God says no, wait, or a no that really is a yes!

FOOT WASHING

Agape love and service are Christian qualities.

Drawing from John 13, Jesus showed His love and service by washing the disciples’ feet.

I want to authenticate my discipleship to you all.

I want Jesus to elevate our life through blessings and service.

Growing up, washing feet was a practice in many churches. Today it is not an ordinance for me but a prayer that it shows God and you that we should want to serve Him and each other…

While at the Last Supper (Passover meal), the disciples were worried about who would have the highest position. Jesus humbled Himself to wash the disciple’s feet which symbolized washing us clean. John 13 “…you ought to wash one another’s feet”

Today I put my pride aside and tell you I love you, and I do music, put together a word because of the commandment “love one another”.

We all need the regular cleansing of His saving grace. Cleansing is conviction, confession, forgiveness, repentance, and empowering grace to live a new way.

• DON’T LET NOBODY FOOL YOU. DON’T FORGET TO PRAY! DON’T BE ASHAMED TO PRAY AND DON’T EVER BE TOO PROUD TO PRAY BECAUSE PRAYER CHANGES THINGS, PRAYER CHANGES PEOPLE, AND IT COULD BE THAT ONE PRAYER THAT BRINGS US TO OUR MIRACLE, OUR YES.

PRAYER

God, I am asking You for everything I want and everything everyone in this room wants. If it is not right for us, right now, we don’t want it. I am boldly approaching the throne of grace, and I know You will reward our faith and time spent with You. Help us know that WE don’t owe the world constant strength, and today surviving may be all we can do. Sometimes breathing through the pain is victory. Today we choose not to quit, show You proof of our faith and believe that You still move mountains, split seas and bring miracles in our lives.