Bible talks a lot about prayers. All of us would be familiarized with this famous quote of Jesus in Matthew 7:7 - Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. Ask, seek, knock then God will answer, and make things come your way. Sounds simple enough, but what about all those unanswered prayers in our lives? I am sure that each of us can relate to this.
He chooses not to answer prayers for any number of reasons.
Here are some-
1. Double mindedness. James 1:7 - "Let not that man think he will receive anything from the Lord."
2. Wrong motives James 4:3 - "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures”
3. Refusing to be reconciled with a brother - Matthew 5:23-24 - Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
4. Refusing to forgive another. Matt. 6:14-15 - “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
5. Walking out of the will of God - I Sam. 28:6 - And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.
However, on the flip side, there are many heroes of the Bible, God-fearing, righteous, and faithful men. Still, they had to go through the frustration of unanswered prayers.
Unanswered Prayers in Scripture
1. Moses
We all know Moses as the one with whom the Lord spoke face to face. (Exodus 33:11). In fact, the Lord spoke with him in a way that He spoke to no other prophet. in a way that he spoke to no other prophet (Numbers 12:8). When the Lord wanted to destroy the stiff-necked Israelites, Moses interceded for them and halted God’s judgement on the nation. However, when he prayed with great passion for something very personal, it was rejected.
Deuteronomy 3:23-26 - I begged the Lord at that time, saying, “Lord, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.” But the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and didn’t listen to me. The Lord said to me, “Let this satisfy you. Speak no more to me of this matter. . . .”
2. David
David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). Just like Moses, his intercession too halted God’s judgment on the entire nation (2 Samuel 24:25). But when he prayed specifically for the life of his child, his prayer was not answered.
2 Samuel 12:16-18 - David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground. The elders of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, and he didn’t eat bread with them. On the seventh day, the child died. . . .
It is true both instances were blemished by sin but both had repented and were forgiven by God (from an eternal perspective). In spite of that, their specific prayers were not answered.
3. James and John
Among the disciples, Peter, James and John had a uniquely close relationship with Jesus. John was one of the disciples whom Jesus loved and he was the one leaning on Jesus' bosom at the las supper (John 13:23). One day, John and his brother James came to Jesus with a very special request (Mark 10:35-40) They wanted a special place on either side of Jesus in glory. Matthew even records that their mother came to Jesus with this request for her two sons (Matthew 20:20-21). Their request, however, was denied. Jesus said - But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared (Mark 10:40).
The question remains – why are not all the prayers of even Godly saints not answered?
Sometimes God’s no is better than his yes.
Think what would happen if the Lord answered all our prayers all the time just the manner in which we prayed?
For sure, it would be devastating since some of our prayers are foolish and short-sighted. There is this legend of King Midas which demonstrates this truth. He prayed that whatever he touched would turn to gold. His request was granted, and he was just overjoyed to see all that he touched turning to gold. But then, one day, he touched his daughter and she turned to a golden statue. Alas, he lost a precious treasure that gold would not buy.
Let us thank God for not granting our every whim and wish that we take to God in prayer.
Most importantly, there would be no spiritual maturity in our lives if all our prayers were answered. Because, in that case, we would eventually in the answers and not in the Lord alone.
In the words of Longfellow, "What discord we should bring into the universe if all our prayers were answered! Then we should govern the world and not God. And do you think we should govern it better?
Why does God give ‘No’ for an answer?
1. Against the will of God
Jesus
The best example for this is the prayer of Jesus. Jesus makes a very heartfelt prayer in the garden of Gethsemane - He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” – Matthew 26:39
Jesus wanted the cup to pass from Him, but it was the will of the Father. Jesus did not want the sufferings, but He was ready to surrender. He did not get His wish granted, for there was no other way. It was necessary that Jesus die on the cross to redeem the entire human kind.
Elijah
He prays for God to take his life that very moment.
1 Kings 19:4 - And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
Most of the people would have prayed this prayer at some point in their life unable to bear the depression. If God were to answer every such prayer, then we would hardly have few people in this world.
God doesn’t answer such prayers. As children of God, we need to fulfil our God given mission while on earth. Elijah still had few unfulfilled missions. He had to anoint Hazael king over Syria, Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha the son of Shaphat as prophet in his place (1 Kings 19:15, 16)
If you study these issues deeper, you would realize unanswered prayers does make good sense.
2. He sees our future but our prayers are short-sighted.
Amy Carmichael
Amy Carmichael, who spent over fifty years as a missionary to India, once narrated the story of her childhood. When she was just 3 years old, Amy’s mother taught her about prayer. Amy believed with a child’s simple faith that all her prayers would be answered. Now, Amy wanted to have beautiful blue eyes. So, she prayed one night asking the Lord to make her eyes blue that night and she went to sleep with full confidence that her eyes would be blue in the morning. She woke up in the morning and immediately ran to the mirror to look at her blue eyes that she desperately longed for. She looked and was broken that God had let her down.
In the later years, Amy understood why her prayers were not answered. She say her dark complexion with the accompanying brown eyes as a blessing to minister in India. She was able to dress up and walk through the India streets without calling attention to herself. That would not have been possible if she was blonde-headed and blue eyed instead.
Garth Brooks has a song called, “Some of God’s Greatest Gifts are Unanswered Prayers.” The lyrics talk about the one girl that he prayed would someday be his wife. His prayer was not answered. She got away. Years later, he ran across the girl now a woman. All he could say to himself was, “Thank God for unanswered prayers.” God knows better than us about what our real needs are.
3. God’s allows certain things so that we continue to remain in Him
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these sur¬passingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7).
Bible scholars differ on the exact meaning of this verse. According to some, Paul refers to the fierce opposition from his Jewish opponents as the “thorn in the flesh”. Some believe that it was some physical ailment, probably a failing eyesight, that Paul was suffering.
Whatever, it may be, the crucial point is that Paul prayed for the Lord to remove the “thorn in his flesh” so that he could continue his ministry without any disturbance. In fact, he prayed not once but three times for deliverance. And each time, his request was denied.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me” (v. 8).
Think about it. In the natural sense, Paul had every right to receive an answer from God. It was doing God’s work and this thorn in the flesh was a distraction to use all his capacities. God did not answer the prayers of the apostle Paul, probably the greatest Christian who ever lived - the man who introduced Christianity to Europe and the one who wrote so many New Testament epistles.
Paul understands the reason for God not answering his prayers.
He says - To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul was a man blessed with terrific gifts – he had a towering intellect; he was a powerful influencer as a founder of many gentle churches; he was a man blessed with the vision of heaven itself and great revelations. It is difficult for a man so gifted to keep the spiritual balance. To ensure that these privileges and favors from God does not make Paul proud, God had his own way of dealing – the thorn in the flesh. However, he had a promise of the Lord’s power perfected in his weakness.
Here Amy Carmichael, Garth Brooks and Paul had a great advantage over us. They knew at some point why their prayers were not answered but the truth is that sometimes you may never get to know why your prayers are not answered till your time on earth. But through these people, we can understand that God has a purpose behind our unanswered prayers. Like Paul, we need to accept our lot from God, knowing that God would be glorified in it. Too often we think that the only glory God gets is in relieving us of our sufferings and fulfilling our needs. However, He is more glorified in our faith and loyalty in trusting Him, no matter what.
Sometimes, God answers our prayers but in His own time
1. To produce the expected fruit within us
Sometimes God delays answers to our prayers because He is expecting a certain commitment from us. We read about Hannah pleading with the Lord year after year for a child. But for many years, God did not answer her prayers. Hannah’s life was made bitter by Peninnah, but God appeared to remain silent. I suppose it was because Samuel was in the plan of God but if Samuel had to come forth and grow in the presence of God and be established as a prophet throughout Israel, Hannah needed to wholly dedicate him to the Lord. So the Lord was probable waiting for Hannah to reach a point where she wanted a child even if it was at the cost of lending the child to the Lord without having him with her.
It was only after Hannah made the committed prayer with a vow in the bitterness of her soul, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” (1 Samuel 1:10,11), did God bless her with little Samuel.
2. He knows the due time
Luke narrates the account of an old Jewish couple – Zechariah and Elizabeth, living in the hill country of Judea. They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:6). They were childless although they were married for several years and had prayed for a child (Luke 1:13). Barrenness was a shame and a reproach in the Jewish society those days. Why did God remain silent to their prayers despite the fact that they were righteous? Wasn’t God unaware of the reproach that Zechariah and Elizabeth would have been going through in the orthodox Jewish society. Wasn’t God aware that they were getting older?
Why the delay? God was waiting for just the right time since God had a plan to bless Elizabeth with not just an ordinary son but a son with a special assignment to prepare the way for His only begotten Son, Jesus. So, Elizabeth had to wait for time of the Messiah for her son to be born.
If God were to answer all our prayers at our time, we would trust in our prayers and not God. But the kind of trust that God is expecting from us - “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15). Job was not happy with what was happening in his life, he was frustrated, angry and in pain. But underneath that was a bedrock faith - “I don’t understand this at all, but I’m trust you, Lord, and I’m not going to let go. You can take my life, but you can’t make me stop trusting in you.”
That’s the place where God wants to bring each one of us. And I believe, many a times, unanswered prayer is the only way to get us there.
