Good Monday afternoon, I am sitting behind the glass writing this morning, the sunshine leaves a thought that it is warm and wonderful outside but the wind and the 24 degrees tells a different story. I am so thankful for my little warm box apartment and the protection it provides from the elements.
As I sat in prayer this morning I was at a loss for what to speak to God about, it seems that every time I ask him for his help things go the opposite direction. I asked him to make healed a sweet friend... I even dreamed of his healing her getting her ready to go home...it was so real in my dreams. The next day she passed away, how could I have mistaken my dream as her passing and going to heaven for her being healed and going home to her family? I ask God to provide a way for us to make the move I so desperately want to make and we get a paper saying that there are taxes owed from 2006 that have to be paid NOW...I ask God for peace, calm, and comfort for myself and so many who are struggling and the struggle never seems to come to an end. I know you are there God, I know that you hear me, I just don't understand!!!!
I am sure many of you are feeling the same way this morning, many of you feel as if your prayers are falling on deaf ears, many of you are questioning your faith today, asking God why things happen the way that they do???? There are so many questions and never seem to be answers......
When I start feeling like I am today I go back to the basics, I found this a long time ago and think it the best answer to my WHY that I have every read. I pray it will help in your answers as well...
Why doesn't God answer my prayers?
Does God really mean it when He says He will give us what we ask for? Bible texts come to our minds, such as Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you"... Will He really answer when we call? Isaiah 65:24: "Before you call I will answer, while you are still speaking, I will hear."
Why at times does it appear that God ignores us when we pray to Him, asking Him to help when we have a serious problem? Many have prayed for God to intervene and solve a problem that they are struggling with, but sometimes God‘s apparent answer is silence.
God knows what’s best
Even when we feel that God is not answering our prayers, you can always know God is a God of love. The Bible tells us He loves us:
John 3:16. '"For God so LOVED the world".......
Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love."....
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.
Right way
God has certain conditions that must be met before our prayers can be answered. One of the first, is we feel our need of help from Him. Isaiah 44:3 says, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” The heart must be open to the Spirit’s influence, or God’s blessing cannot be received. One cannot pour water into a cup that is already full.
Right heart
If we have cherished sins in our lives, and refuse to give them up, or if we are doing things we should not be doing, and are disobeying Him, we cannot expect Him to answer our prayers. He cannot answer our prayers if we have sins in our lives that are unconfused or if we are hanging on to cherished sins. Also, if we refuse to forgive others who have wronged us, God cannot hear us. (See Matthew 6:12 and Ephesians 4:32).
This is not saying you can earn God’s favor to answer your prayers, it will always be Jesus’s blood that makes us worthy; but we do need to do our part if God is going to work in our lives.
Pray without ceasing
One of the reasons we feel our prayers are not being answered, is because we stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says it best, "pray without ceasing." Paul is more direct in Philippians 4:6, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
In reality, we should not be worried so much about if God hears our prayers – He does and He does care. What we should be worried about is if because of temptations, hard times, and trials we get discouraged, and give up praying. In Luke 18:1, Jesus, “spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."
His time, His will
God is a God of love, and He is interested in every detail of our lives. He hears our prayers, and answers every sincere prayer if we meet His conditions. We must not expect that every answer will be "yes", since we are sinners and do not always ask what is best for us. Sometimes His answer is "No’ and sometimes it is "wait." (Hebrew 10:36) We need to end each prayer with, "Not my will but Your will." Even if we are sincerely doing God’s will, and to the best of our ability, following His will for us, He may see that it is best for us not for Him to say "yes" at this time. We must continue trusting Him, regardless of His answer at the moment.
God's timetable is not the same as ours. He knows better than we do when is the best time for our prayers to be answered. (See Hebrews 6 :13-15). God is eternal and does not measure time as we do. 2 Peter 3:8: "Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
In the story of Abraham, God promised a son to Abraham. But Abraham became impatient when Sarah didn‘t bear him a son, so he took his wife’s servant as his wife. Abraham tried to solve the problem in his own way and the result was disastrous. We are still seeing the results of his mistake today. God eventually answered his prayer at the time when He saw it was best for Abraham.
For God to give us what we ask for, we must ask "according to His will." Faith cannot take the place of "asking according to God's will." 1 John 5:14, "…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." If you do not ask according to God's will, it is not real faith in God. If God's answer is "No" we still must be willing to wait patiently, and trust God to answer in his own way and in His timing.
Trust God, even though you may at the moment feel he is not near and has abandoned you.
Isaiah 41:9,10:
"You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you, and have not cast you away. Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
If we have faith and sincerely trust God, we will not be concerned as to whether the answer is "wait" or the answer is "no" or "yes." We must just trust, and wait and see if God in His timing will see fit to answer as we have requested, or perhaps He has something better in mind for us. Remember your prayer should end with "Not my will, Lord, but Your will." (Luke 22:42). "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5,6.
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