Trust & Wait
At times, we wonder why doesn't prayer work? Why at times does it appear that God ignores us when we pray to Him? Many have prayed for God to intervene and solve a problem that they are struggling with, but sometimes God's apparent answer is silence.
There could be seven biblical reasons why God doesn't answer our prayers as we request.
1. Unconfessed sin. "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" - Isaiah 59:1-2.
2. An unforgiving spirit. "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins" - Mark 11:25.
3. An unbelieving heart. "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does" - James 1:6-8.
4. Improper motives. "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" - James 4:3.
5. An alienated marriage relationship. "Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers" - I Peter 3:7.
6. An anemic effort. "So, Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him" - Acts 12:5). "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years" - James 5:17.
7. The sovereignty of God. "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" - Romans 9:15-16.
When we don't get immediate answers for our prayers, we must trust and obey.
Job challenged God's fairness and asked why so many horrible things happened to him when he had lived a righteous life. God finally responded by asking Job where he was at the dawn of creation or if Job could explain the formation of a baby in the womb. God didn't give any clear answers. He just reminded Job that He was God and Job should trust Him to work things out in the end.
God created us and knows infinitely more than we know. He knows what is best for us, and what would not be good for us. If you have children, when they were very small, sometimes they asked for things that would not be good for them, or would harm them. For good reasons sometimes parents do not always give their children what they ask for, when they ask for it. Parents give them what is best for them.
It is the same way in our prayers to God. God gives us what is best for us. We are God's children and He gives us what is best for us, and at a time when it is best for us. Our lives must be right with God before He can answer our prayers.
God doesn't promise that all our prayers will be answered just as we express them. He does promise that He hears our prayers and in the end all will be made right. In the meantime, ours is not to understand or explain, but to trust and to wait.
This week, reflect on when my prayers are not answered. What is my level of trust in God? Why am I not able to trust Him completely for now and future?