There are probably more than four reasons God might not have
answered your prayers, so consider this a primer to remind us all of
His wisdom, mercy and ultimate understanding.
1. Stones and Snakes Aren’t Good For Us.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or
if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” (Matthew 7:9-10).
Often, we want things that will ultimately be bad for us. And we like
to use God to get what we want, the way we want, when we want.
If we truly believe God only gives good gifts, then His response to
our desires are what’s best. The question is, best for whom? As
Christians, our lives are tools God uses to accomplish His mission of
bringing good news to the world. This sacrifice, this giving up of
ourselves and our desires, moves us to pray, “not my will, but yours be
done.”
Are you willing to sacrifice your desires for God’s desires?
2. He Has, We Just Don’t Like the Answer.
This one’s pretty self-explanatory, but incredibly challenging.
We can swallow God not giving us what we ask for when we’re asking
for a Ferrari, a new house or for our favorite team to win the big game.
But it gets real when our health, or the health of someone we love,
begins to fail, or when we’ve been looking for employment for months and
the bills are due. These are the moments when God’s answers are hard to
accept. So hard, that we reject His answer.
But our prayers should be reminders of our trust in God and His
wisdom, of our belief that nothing is happening that He is not aware of,
or even allowing.
Trusting God is an admission of our limited perspective. God is good.
And He is the giver of good gifts. Trusting Him through His answers
that don’t make us feel great provides us an opportunity to show that we
can love and trust Him despite the hurt from painful circumstances.
After all, that’s the way He loves us.
3. We’re Unavailable.
This one is funny because these days we are so connected. Smart
phones. Social Media. Email. We allow anyone to contact us anytime,
anywhere—except God.
God speaks to us in many different ways, but sometimes we just don’t
want to listen. What ways do we really allow God to contact us? Is it
just the one hour on Sunday morning? Do we approach prayer ready to
listen, or are we too ready to dominate the conversation, asking for
what we want and expecting Him to immediately deliver? Do you have time
with God’s Word on a regular basis?
Sometimes we can feel God trying to get through to us, but we screen
His calls. That moment when you were going to take lunch to read the
devotional you’ve been putting off for days, but instead head to lunch
with the gang. God’s call just got screened. The preacher offered a
suggestion to set your clock for 10 minutes earlier so you can spend a
few minutes reading God’s Word every morning. You set the alarm with
good intentions, but when the alarm goes off you slam on the Snooze
button. Call screened.
Other times we’re just too busy to notice when God’s trying to talk
to us. We’re all trying to do the best we can with our schedules.
There’s so much to manage. Jobs, relationships, ambitions, ministry, the
list could go on. In this case, it’s not that we’re screening God’s
call, we just don’t really have time to talk.
The Bible tells us to seek the Lord where He may be found. Perhaps
the simple reason God has not spoken to you is because you won’t take
the time to listen.
4. Silence is Golden.
Time and time again in scripture we see that God is not in a hurry.
For 400 years, the Israelites prayed for the deliverance that God gave
them through Moses. God is the master of time and therefore the master
of timing. Even Jesus knew this.
Periodically, we’ll hear Jesus say “his hour had not come,” and the
scriptures often mention events happening “in the fullness of time.” We
often treat God like a vending machine, expecting Him to instantly
answer our prayers. But sometimes the lessons we learn while waiting are
better or just as important as what we asked for.
Trusting God is in control, that He is good, and that He gives good
gifts means trusting that His timing makes better sense than our timing.
So if God is silent, pray for His peace. Pray for His will to be done.
And pray that He gives you the kind of faith that will wait.
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