When It Seems God Isn’t Answering 2 days ago Why do some prayers take longer to be answered than others,and why do some seem to go unanswered? It’s impossible for us to know for sure, and there are probably a number of factors that come into play. One thing we can be sure of is that God always hears our prayers, even though He doesn’t always answer them right away and not always in just the way we expect Him to. Sometimes He says “yes,” sometimes He says “no,” and sometimes He says “wait.” When it seems your prayers aren’t being answered, try asking yourself these questions: Am I sure that what I’m praying for is what God also wants? Our requests are often shortsighted, whereas God is able to see the big picture. He doesn’t answer some prayers the way we would like or expect Him to because He knows that what we’re praying for isn’t really good for us or someone else. Or He may know that something else will prove better for us and others in the long run. Not giving us what we want, when we want it, is sometimes God’s way of getting us to consider other options or take actions that we probably wouldn’t have otherwise, to positive ends. Are my motives right? If our motives are selfish or misguided, we can’t expect God to give us what we ask for. (1) Have I done my part? If you are fulfilling your part of the deal by living as God would have you, as best you can, and if you are doing what you can in practical terms to help bring about the desired result of your prayers, then you can be confident that He will answer, perhaps not exactly as you had hoped, but in the way He knows is best for you and the situation. (2) Is God perhaps testing my faith? Sometimes God wants to see how serious you are about getting the answer you desire. He likes the kind of faith that refuses to quit, the kind that will keep on believing in spite of obstacles. He appreciates the faith of those who keep believing it willbe so simply because He saidso. A good example of this is the Old Testament patriarch Abraham. Although God had promised Abraham that he would have descendants “as (numerous as) the stars of heaven,” (3) by the time he was 75 and his wife Sarah was 66, they had no children. But Abraham believed God’s promise, and God came through. Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son, Isaac, when she was 90 years old, long past childbearing age. The Apostle Paul wrote of Abraham’s stand of faith: “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (4) Faith will say, “I claimed God’s promise and I’m going forward, even though I cannot see the way ahead!” That’s the kind of faith that pleases God and gets results. Is it God’s time? “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” (5) You can’t rush God. Sometimes prayer is like planting a seed: it takes time for the seed to sprout, break ground, mature, and bear fruit. Some types of seeds take longer than others; some flowers spring up overnight, but trees take years before they bear fruit. — (1) Psalm 66:18 ESV - If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. (2) 1 John 3:21-22 ESV - Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. (3) Exodus 32:13 ESV - Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 19:02:36 +0000
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