WHY DIDN'T GOD ANSWER MY PRAYER?

 

What is prayer?

The simplest answer is "communication with God".  Some people think prayer is giving God a wish list of things they want as if He is a genie in a bottle who is supposed to give them to us at our every whim.

In Matthew 6 and Luke 11, we find the "LORD'S PRAYER".  There aren't many people who cannot recite the Lord's Prayer.  It starts with, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".  The Lord's Prayer wasn't meant to be recited word for word, but that's for a different post.  Pay attention to this line:  "Your will be done."

When we pray, we aren't praying for God to be at our beck and call, and to give us everything we want, but we pray for His will to be done.  There's nothing wrong with praying for things like a new job, new house, a new vehicle, or for healing for ourselves or others.  But when we pray asking for these things, we pray, "if it's Your will".

See, God answers every prayer.  His answers are either "yes", "no", or "wait".

What if you prayed asking for healing for your spouse, parent, or child and they still died?  Know this:  God has already determined not only the day we will be born, but He has already determined the day we will die.  Psalm 139:16 says:

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

In other words, before we were born, God had already ordained the number of our days on this earth.

What if you prayed for a better paying job and that job was given to someone else?  Maybe God wants you to learn to manage your money better instead of giving you a higher paying job.  Or maybe His answer is "wait" to help you learn patience.

God understands better what we need because He has our best interests in mind.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, so when we pray for something that we don't get the desired answer for, yes, it may be disappointing at first, but if we say, "I don't like this answer, but I trust You that You know what's best for me and I ask that You help me to better see and understand why You answered in this manner."  You may get your answer within months or years, or you may not get that answer here on earth at all, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that God knows best and His "no" answers are for our good.

It's hard to understand and live with this in mind at first, but if we stay focused on the reality that God is sovereign in all things, we can rest knowing His will is being done and He only wants what is for our good and for His glory.