The problem wouldn't be so vexing if the biblical promises about prayer weren't so numerous and explicit. But time and again Scripture declares that specific prayer brings specific results. I chose you . Yet, unless we are very unusual, we don't live the Christian life very long without some serious bubble-popping in this area. What we say is not always what we get.
Few experiences pose a greater challenge to our faith.
We grope for an explanation to our experiences of unanswered prayer. Many times we attribute the problem to lack of faith. We just didn't believe strongly enough. Indeed, this can be the problem. Yet there are many examples in Scripture of anxious, ambivalent people receiving what they ask from God.