I have absolutely no idea what the thorn in the flesh might have been. I absolutely refuse to speculate. It's wasted energy to do so. We do know that the thorn in the flesh made Paul feel weak and tormented.

We also know that God declined Paul's request for removal.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Keep in mind the fact that Paul was a spiritually minded person, whose eyes were firmly fixed on Jesus and yet God said, "No." Why would God decline the request of such an obviously spiritual person? Why does he sometimes say, "No" to us, even when we approach him in faith and humility? I don't profess to know all the answers, but I would like to suggest a few principles for your consideration.

Sometimes We Misunderstand His Will

Our comprehension of his truths may be too shallow or even altogether mistaken.

It is true that on several different occasions, God has promised to give us anything we ask. In John 15:7, Jesus said, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." Too often when we look at the broad sweeping generalities of such a promise, we see the promise and ignore the conditions. These verses suggest two conditions for answered prayer (1) "if you remain in me" and (2) "my words remain in you."

In order to receive the things we want, what we want must be consistent with the Christian lifestyle. The Christian lifestyle is not the lifestyle of wanting a lot of things. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Quite often our frustration with unanswered prayer is rooted in the fact that we begin with our agenda instead of God's agenda. We would like for God to adjust his agenda to fit our own. Our perception of what's good in any given situation is limited, subject to bias and may well be mistaken. We all have blind spots and we tend toward self-centeredness. That gets in the way of knowing and comprehending God's will.

Sometimes we are disappointed when God says, "No," but our disappointment stems from the fact that we don't understand what God is up to. At one point, Paul was so overwhelmed with the discomfort of his thorn in the flesh that he apparently couldn't see much else, but he came to realize that God had an entirely different view of the entire situation. He planned to use the pain to teach Paul a greater lesson than he would have learned had he experienced release from pain.

Sometimes "Yes" Isn't in Our Best Interest

Paul had a very clear understanding of the reason for the thorn in the flesh. God didn't create it. He described it as a "messenger of Satan." God isn't in the business of creating suffering. That's what the devil does. However, there are times (rather frequent times in fact), when God loosens Satan's tether and allows him to perform his evil work. God knows that he can turn Satan's evil work into a blessing. Do you remember how Joseph explained his brothers' treachery? He said in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." As Paul viewed things, it worked something like this. Satan saw an opening one day. He couldn't believe what he saw. Here was one of God's front line soldiers left unprotected. Zap - he shoved a thorn into his flesh. Satan's was not sharp enough to see that God would use this thorn in the flesh to keep Paul from getting into an area where he would have been more vulnerable.

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