“I hate unanswered prayers,” I heard a wise woman say in the face of disappointment. As much as I sympathized with her I was reminded of a conversation I had with someone close to me. We will call him Sam.
Despite our close relationship, Sam and I had very few conversations about God. When we did speak of it, I felt discouraged by his point of view. I remember him saying something along the lines of “God picks and chooses whose prayers He’s going to answer.” No doubt Sam was speaking from life experience.
I believe that kind of thinking stems from repetitive hurt and disappointment. It’s normal to pray time and time again and not see God work. As a result we tend to lose faith, but can we really allow an inkling of doubt to interfere with believing that God is in control?
I remember saying in response to Sam’s statement, “OR God answers all prayers just not when we want and the way we want it.” That was it at the time, but if I could I would explain it more to him.
Scientifically, as humans, we only use approximately 10% of our brain. If that is the case, how can we possibly understand how God conducts His business? How can we even expect to fathom a being who could allow us to use the other 90% of our brain if He wanted us to?
In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah tells us that our thoughts or not His thoughts and our ways are not His ways. So obviously our logic is not His logic. Humans are flawed, sinful, and downright simple compared to God. If God ran the show like we wanted Him to A) He would be a below average God and B) Everyone would be considered a god.
If we were supposed to understand the workings of God then we would have no need for faith or trust. We can’t expect to have all of our questions answered which is why we are asked to lean not on our own understanding. God sees the big picture, we don’t even see the frame.
There is a reason the Bible says time and time again, “Have faith and know that I am God.” It is frustrating to have your most heartfelt prayers seem to go unanswered, but Satan is the one saying that God doesn’t care about your prayers.
I firmly believe that God answers all prayers in His own way and that it will be the best for us. The book of Matthew says, “Ask and it will be given, seek and you shall find.” I don’t believe in a God that says, “Maybe if you prayed harder…” or “Sorry maybe next time.” I believe in a God that makes all of His children a priority. When we ask God about the desires of our hearts, He asks in return for faith to know that He will come through.
In this we need to come to Him like children, praise Him for being our Father, ask of Him, thank Him for what He will do, and have faith that He will do it.
God Bless
-LJM
Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 46:10, Matthew 7:7, Isaiah 55:8-9
Leah Jordan Meahl 