“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but You. ” – Psalm 5: 1-2. (NLT)

I once saw a Christian being interviewed on a TV show. She was asked “Does God always answer your prayers?” She responded: “No, not always and I ‘m thankful because if He had answered every prayer as I wanted, I would have married the wrong man 7 times before I met my husband! ”
Have you every wondered why doesn’t God answer your prayers concerning something that seems so important to you? Is it a lack of faith? Am I not using the “right words” when I pray? Am I praying with the “right motives”?
We have all had those thoughts at one time or another. It is important for us to know what God’s Word teaches us about this important topic.
Several things to keep in mind:
1. God created us and knows what is best for us. Psalms 100: 3 describes our relationship with God this way: ” Know that the Lord is God. It is He who has made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Sometimes God says NO because He has a better plan in place for us that we cannot see right now and what we want is not in our best interest long term.
2. God’s delays in answering our prayers are not necessarily His denials. God is not limited to time and is more interested in the right timing…and there is a big difference. Sometimes we are praying for the right thing but it isn’t the right time for it to happen in our lives. When this occurs, we should keep on faithfully praying and not get discouraged. Waiting patiently for God is not easy but it can build our relationship with God and be a positive example for others who know about our situation.
” I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the mud and mire. He sat my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new son to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord” – Psalm 40: 1-3(NLT)
3. God looks at things through Eternity and we tend to look at things just through the present time. There are a lot of things that just doesn’t seem right or make sense in this fallen and imperfect world that we live in today. That is why God had the answer for you and me through what Jesus did for us on the cross and gave us forgiveness and eternal life. Some things will not make sense to us this side of Heaven and that is ok…We can trust Him inspite of when prayers seem to go unanswered. If you & I could figure everything out, we wouldn’t need to have faith in God.
” For we walk ( live our daily lives ) by FAITH not by sight ( what we can see and understand ). ”
– 2 Corinthians 5:7
May God give us strength today to live by faith… even when we don’t understand everything…