When God Does Not Answer Prayer as We Expected
What about all of the unanswered prayers in your life, things in your past that you wanted more than anything, that you'd reasoned out perfectly, that you humbly approached God to request, and it didn't happen.
The Unanswered Prayer
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Begin with the truth
At the end of the song he says, As we walked away, I looked at my wife, and then and there I thanked the good Lord for the gifts in my life. What about all of the unanswered prayers in your life, things in your past that you wanted more than anything, that you'd reasoned out perfectly, that you humbly approached God to request, and it didn't happen.
And now as you assess where God has brought you and what he's doing in your life today, what is your attitude about all of that?
What this reveals about God
But with that in view, it ought to become very, very clear why God says no to a lot of the things that we ask. You have to believe that if all you can see of life is a tiny speck and you're missing everything else going on, that a lot of the requests that you would make known to God would be short-sighted.
And so it would only make sense that God would need to decline a great many of those requests, or at least grant them affirmation in a different way that we never saw coming, not with this straw taped over my eye.
Let faith take root
I want you to think about the product of all of God's answers as it exists in your life at this very moment. To whom you are married, the nature of your health, your family, where you live, everything going on in your life is the product of things that God said yes to when you asked him and things he declined when you requested it.
And lest you and I begin to complain about that, I want to ask you firstly, can you take comfort in knowing that if you are living by faith, you are where God wants you to be?
Respond in daily life
Your will, your eternal nature, your knowledge is something in which I put my trust even above my own desires. If we can pray like that, truly interested in the Lord's will, we'll make all kinds of requests with the caveat of only if it pleases him.
We can accept any answer, we can appreciate what God has built, and we can keep going to him courageously and faithfully every day.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Where do I see the problem or opportunity described in “When God Does Not Answer Prayer as We Expected” in my own life?
- 02What Scripture or spiritual principle in this study most needs my attention?
- 03What one specific change can I make this week to put this teaching into practice?
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