Unanswered Prayer

By Rev. David Wilson Rogers |  July 13, 2013

            Prayer is powerful.  Prayer changes things.  Prayer can heal cancer, restore life, mend broken families, and is the means by which we get help when we most need it.  There are times, however, when the answer to prayer is simply not there.  That is when we need to really understand the bewildering reality of unanswered prayer.

            There are a lot of diverse ways in which seemingly unanswered prayer is understood.  Yet, frequently these shallow half-truths serve only to arbitrarily discount the unanswered prayer with unsympathetic ambivalUnence.  The prayers offered are not only real, but they represent a fervently genuine passion.  Passively writing off an unanswered prayer without compassion and love can destroy a person’s heart and faith.

            People are told prayer is unanswered because they do not have enough faith or that they did not pray in the right way.  People say that there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer, only that the answer is sometimes, “No!”  It has been said that not enough prayers were offered, that sin overrode the power of prayer, and that the request was needlessly selfish.  Some rationalize the lack of an answer by saying that God had other things in mind.  All these answers are rooted in some truth, but when tossed out thoughtlessly, can create deep wounds.

            Countless prayers have been offered that genuinely arise out of our shared faith in Jesus Christ.  We pray for healing and know that Jesus does heal.  We pray for peace and know that Jesus desires peace.  We pray for justice and know that Jesus brings justice.  We pray for an end to death, suffering, disease, violence, and disaster knowing that God’s love hears and answers our prayers.  We pray for God’s will to be and pray in God’s name because we trust God is ultimately in charge and will accomplish the Divine will!  Yet, often we find these most sincere and passionate of prayers seemingly falling on deaf ears.

            The disciples made similar mistakes.  In Luke 9:54, the disciples were genuinely outraged at the treatment their Lord received and passionately sought the prayerful power to obliterate them.  Jesus did not grant their request.

            Jesus tells us in Mark 44:24 that all we need to do is ask in His name, believing that the answer we desire is already granted, and it will be done. Yet, in contrast, the Bible also tells us in James 4:3 that the desires of our heart must be in line with God’s desires or we will not receive.

            The two passages complement one another quite well.  Praying “in Jesus name” necessarily means that one has sufficient enough relationship with Jesus that the prayer reflects his desires, not ours.  It is a parallel to his fervent prayer from the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed for God’s will over his.  Likewise, this is the spiritual truth James is recalling as he says that answered prayers are prayers which are the ones offered out of a genuine relationship that knows God’s will.

            At the root of unanswered prayer is the human reality that sin will always interfere with prayer to some extent.  It blinds our eyes to God’s wisdom, directs our desires away from God’s will, and closes our eyes to God’s grand vision.  Sin will always do this to us.

            Yet, in spite of this very real brokenness arising from our imperfect humanity, two truths remain unchanged.  Jesus died that our sins may not permanently keep us from God.  Prayer is the means by which we will connect with God in powerful and life-transforming ways.  So, when we pray, it is vital that we place trust ahead of will, listening ahead of talking, hope ahead of despair, and love ahead of hatred that we may enter into a new realm of answered prayer!

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