Ask anyone who has stood next to the grave of their deceased child, a toddler for whom they prayed fervently, if God answers every prayer. From the depths of cavernous pain, they might likely let you know no. But in God’s eyes, is that necessarily true? When considering this query, it’s helpful to define what is supposed by “answered prayer.” Do we consider a prayer “answered” whether it is answered exactly consistent with our request? What if answered prayer encompasses more?
What Does the Bible Teach about God Answering Prayer?
First, we’d like to see what the Bible says about prayer before we will have a look at answered prayer. Most comforting are verses that tell us God hears our prayers. 1 John 5:14 says, “This is the arrogance we now have in approaching God: that if we ask anything in accordance with his will, he hears us.” Psalm 66:19 tells us, “But God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.” Because He cares a lot for us (the cross of Christ is the one evidence we’d like of that), He wants us to know that He hears every word we are saying and pray.
God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, so He has the ability, the presence, and the wisdom to know exactly easy methods to answer our prayers. We will be comforted knowing that James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he’ll come near to you.” We would do well to keep in mind that God’s Word calls us to “Rejoice at all times, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for that is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18). Prayer is rarely to be a one-time activity–we’re to be consistent, giving thanks as we make our requests.
Does God Answer Every Prayer with a “Yes”?
As anyone who has ever prayed to his/her Abba Father for a selected answer to prayer, we all know that there are only three possible answers: “yes,” “no,” or “not yet.” And we won’t immediately know the reply God will give because He wants us to walk with Him in faith. Whatever his answer, we will trust that He has our good and His glory in mind.
If we don’t receive a rapid response to our request, we’re left to attend–and to come to a decision. Will we carry on praying, trusting that God wants us to proceed to ask, or will we turn our back on God? Those who turn their backs miss out on what God could also be doing through the waiting. It shows a scarcity of religion and “…without faith it’s unimaginable to please God, because anyone who involves him must consider that he exists and that he rewards those that earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). What that reward looks like and when God distributes it’s entirely His decision.
But if God does agree with our request and provides us what we’ve asked, we miss out on the miracle of a “yes” if we don’t praise and worship Him for doing so!
Why Might God Say “No” to Some Prayers?
In the Apostle John’s first letter, he wrote, “ And that is the arrogance that we now have in him, that, if we ask anything in accordance with his will, he heareth us: And if we all know that he hear us, by any means we ask, we all know that we now have the petitions that we desired of him.” I do know I are inclined to pay more attention to the second a part of the verse than the primary. But the reality is that God answers prayers which are in accordance with His will. While we comprehend it is His will that every one would come to Him in repentance and faith (though human freewill signifies that many won’t select Him), we don’t know what His will is in individual situations. We can have many questions, fears, and hopes that we bring to God in prayer, but we will make sure that God wants us to bring all these concerns before Him because He cares for us.
God won’t, nevertheless, answer prayers that conflict with His will. For instance, if we pray that God would bless an unethical business deal or that He would help us get revenge on someone who has wronged us, we all know that this stuff contradict Scripture and God’s goodness. James 4:3 confirms this when it says, “When you ask, you don’t receive, since you ask with unsuitable motives, that you could spend what you get in your pleasures.”
For some prayers, nevertheless, what we expect is a “no” answer could also be a “not yet.” The Bible is crammed with stories of those that struggled for one reason or one other and were called to attend on God for his or her “yes.” Often it was a situation during which God did much more for the person than they prayed for; people like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Job, Gideon, David, Solomon, and more have stories of God’s deliverance over time. Sometimes God works in our lives in the identical way–His “waiting room” will be scary and disappointing, but this is precisely the time once we are called to depend on our faith and trust what we learn about Him–that He is a great Father who loves us.
We can’t see the longer term so we don’t know if God will answer a prayer this side of heaven in His perfect timing, but He will at all times make things right in eternity. Depending on our level of need or pain, that is probably not easy to listen to. We don’t wish to suffer anymore. But in giving the Apostle John the Book of Revelation, God wanted us to know that His children have every hope since “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the previous things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). We can release a few of our anxieties by trusting that God has an ideal plan and purpose for the whole lot that’s higher and greater than our plans.
How Should Christians Pray to Align with God’s Will?
When the disciples asked Jesus to show them easy methods to pray to the Father, it was likely because they saw what God did when Jesus prayed they usually wanted the identical results. Jesus taught them to hope, saying, “Your shall be done on earth because it is in heaven”(Matthew 6:10). So once we pray, we at all times must say, “But, Your shall be done, Father.”
James, the brothers of Jesus, said even relating to how we plan for the longer term, we’d like to say, “…’If it’s the Lord’s will, we’ll live and do that or that’” (James 4:15). We give up our will to the desire of the Father who knows what’s best, whether which means giving us our request, or asking us to trust and wait.
When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit got here to indwell believers and to be available 24/7 to assist guide and luxury us. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to guide us in our prayers in alignment with God’s will, and to hope for us as well. In the Christianity.com article “What is Praying God’s Will,” creator Heather Riggleman writes, “Praying God’s will is being honest with him about what we would like in prayer, but additionally surrendering our lives and the final result of our prayers to him. It’s wanting our lives to align with God’s will greater than our own desires.”
What Can We Learn from Delayed or Unanswered Prayers?
Waiting is maybe essentially the most difficult thing within the Christian life, nevertheless it is a way God uses to sanctify us and help us grow. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:3, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Waiting on God is inherent on this process. Few of us would say we didn’t learn something recent about God or grew spiritually by waiting for God to reply a prayer.
Riggleman also made a wonderful point when she said, “The best example of setting aside your desires and praying God’s will is present in Luke 22 where Jesus withdrew from his disciples to hope. He knew he would suffer a horrible death for the sake of mankind. He prayed what any human facing death might pray, but he surrendered his will to God’s will. Luke 22:42 says, “Father, should you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Jesus’ physical and spiritual posture when praying this prayer teaches us something else we will learn from delayed or “unanswered” prayer. We need to hope in humility, asking God to forgive our sins and switch away from them. We also must keep worshiping the One who’s sovereign over our prayer requests. King David was famous in lots of psalms for laying out his request, sometimes with frustration or anxiety, but He almost at all times got here back around to praising God by the top of the psalm. So while we wait, let’s surround ourselves with God’s truth, remembrances of what He has already done for us, and maintain a spirit of thankfulness in all things.
Further Reading
What is Praying God’s Will?
Does God Really Hear Every Prayer?
10 Prayers God Always Answers
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Javier Art Photography
Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance author and duplicate editor who prayed for years for a option to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing greater than 1,500 articles along with marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is simply too short to jot down about the rest. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a big healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the unique Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she likes to spend time together with her author daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not at all times in that order).
