Unanswered prayers

[Revived]

Strange as it may sound, we need unanswered prayers. I believe unanswered prayers protect us. They transform us and deepen our spiritual growth. Ironically, our unanswered prayers of the past, which often leave us feeling hurt and disillusioned, serve as a refining process that prepares us for answered prayers of the future. Personally, when I began shifting focus to God's will and a pure heart in my prayers, my spiritual growth began to transform profoundly.

 

[leothelioness]

Just to be clear, I don't think my prayers remain unanswered because they are unreasonable. Quite the opposite. This is about something that affects my daily life.

 

[WileyCoyote]

"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matthew 21:21-22)

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:7-11)

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)

 

[leothelioness]

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)

This one made me laugh.

 

[ido]

It sounds like you're praying for change in yourself. That can be some of the hardest prayer to ask for and also the hardest prayer to have answered. Why? Because we constantly get in our own way of the change we so desperately want. Sometimes, we do it intentionally b/c we're scared of what the change will mean. Sometimes, it is something beyond our control and we get frustrated because we do want God to simply remove the thorn from our side.

But, with everything, I believe we have a lesson to learn. Maybe our struggles will help us help someone else. Maybe they are meant to strengthen our faith. Maybe it's just not the right time yet for healing to be realized. Whatever the reasons or the lessons, they may not always be clear to us, which is why strength of faith is so important. For me, I have to believe that there is a purpose - understood or not - for every trial I experience. It may be years from now before I understand the purpose it serves, but I do believe eventually it will be revealed to me.

 

[IDDQD]

I don't ask God for much, so I never have this mysterious phenomenon of "unanswered prayers"

I consider prayer to be communication to God, not just "God, I want/need the following things out of life." It's like calling my mom every so often.. I'm not asking her for money or food, I'm just calling to say hi. Except I talk to God more than my mom

I think God doesn't answer prayers because people ask unreasonable things of Him that He can't really do. For instance... I recall someone a few months back on another forum desperately asking for a job transfer from her employer and that person informed us that she wanted to "Get away from" her supervisor. She was her assistant. She asked us to pray to God she got the transfer.

But think about it: What if the supervisor needed her? what if that supervisor was also praying to God that she stayed right where she was, as her assistant?

Do we really believe God chooses "sides"? That God picks and chooses based on.. what.. how many times we go to church, how often we pray, how much we read the Bible?

Well, I don't. It's like saying "Two people survived a car crash and one didn't... man, God is a miracle worker [for the two people]." Yeah, but what about the guy who died? Didn't pray enough?

I think more things in life are completely random than we'd like to believe. As a result, people expect way too much from God. God gave us free will that He really can't interfere with, it was a gift and taking away that gift would be essentially saying "Whoops, I totally made a mistake here". But God doesn't make mistakes.

God guides us, and God gives us a chance to listen to what He has to say. But I don't believe God just "gives us" things, or forces our hand... I think God leads us to opportunity if we're listening, but you can only lead a horse to water -- you can't make him drink.

Hmm.. this became a lot longer than I figured it would. Sorry. That really does explain my position though. People don't pray enough for guidance, being open to the possibility that their ideas in their head may not even be good for them. Don't pray for the transfer (as per the first example)... pray for the guidance of what God thinks is best, and the strength to overcome obstacles. That's a prayer He can say yes to and give you useful information regarding. If you keep yourself focused on the objective of the prayer (the job transfer) instead of the medium (God), you really lose sight of God all together. That's when people get unanswered prayers.

This. A million times this.

 

[WileyCoyote]

This one made me laugh.

Really? I thought it was a good passage.

 

[leothelioness]

Really? I thought it was a good passage.

These are the parts that I thought were funny.

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:1-3)

No offense to you or anything, but I'm sure you can see why that shocked me at first.

 

[WileyCoyote]

Well I posted it to give a reason why some prayers may go unanswered, which is what you asked. No disrespect intended. I'm sure you don't kill and covet. But all the verses I quoted give biblical reasons people don't receive answers to prayer. It can be used as a mental checklist of sorts. When you ask God for anything, you can use the passages quoted to ask yourself:

1. Am I asking in faith and without doubting?
2. Do I believe I've already received what I'm asking God for?
3. Have I actually asked God for the thing I desire of Him? If you don't ask God, you won't receive it.
4. Am I asking with right motives?
5. Did I ask in Jesus name?

If all of these can be answered with a "yes", then you will receive what you ask for in prayer. I figured if I'm going to give you a reason for why prayers go unanswered sometimes, what better place to look than the Bible? I figured you would appreciate a biblical answer instead of me just giving my own opinion.

No disrespect, sister.

 

[Thunder Peel]

Well I posted it to give a reason why some prayers may go unanswered, which is what you asked. No disrespect intended. I'm sure you don't kill and covet. But all the verses I quoted give biblical reasons people don't receive answers to prayer. It can be used as a mental checklist of sorts. When you ask God for anything, you can use the passages quoted to ask yourself:

1. Am I asking in faith and without doubting?
2. Do I believe I've already received what I'm asking God for?
3. Have I actually asked God for the thing I desire of Him? If you don't ask God, you won't receive it.
4. Am I asking with right motives?
5. Did I ask in Jesus name?

If all of these can be answered with a "yes", then you will receive what you ask for in prayer. I figured if I'm going to give you a reason for why prayers go unanswered sometimes, what better place to look than the Bible? I figured you would appreciate a biblical answer instead of me just giving my own opinion.

No disrespect, sister.

That's a pretty good way of looking at it. It's easy to forget all the different steps you have to follow if you want to hear from God sometimes.

 

[ido]

Well I posted it to give a reason why some prayers may go unanswered, which is what you asked. No disrespect intended. I'm sure you don't kill and covet. But all the verses I quoted give biblical reasons people don't receive answers to prayer. It can be used as a mental checklist of sorts. When you ask God for anything, you can use the passages quoted to ask yourself:

1. Am I asking in faith and without doubting?
2. Do I believe I've already received what I'm asking God for?
3. Have I actually asked God for the thing I desire of Him? If you don't ask God, you won't receive it.
4. Am I asking with right motives?
5. Did I ask in Jesus name?

If all of these can be answered with a "yes", then you will receive what you ask for in prayer. I figured if I'm going to give you a reason for why prayers go unanswered sometimes, what better place to look than the Bible? I figured you would appreciate a biblical answer instead of me just giving my own opinion.

No disrespect, sister.

 

[Revived]

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:39-42) Of course, the cup was not taken from Jesus. The very next day, He was crucified.

The disciples no doubt thought that their prayers had gone unanswered and they could see no possible good coming from the crucifixion, yet this event gave us eternal life through His name.