Many of us lock on to the first half of the gallery those who by faith received miracles and overlook the second half, who through faith received the power to endure torment and martyrdom when God saw a better way than to grant miraculous avoidance. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. He had no idea what was going on, but it turned out that each year his prayers went answered Abraham was achieving eternal glory as a man of faith, the spiritual father of all who have faith. Likewise, Job ministers so powerfully through the centuries right down to today because both his prayer for healing and his prayer for death met icy silence.
Unanswered prayer is the only path to such glory.
Faith, says Scripture, is more precious than gold, and yet faith can only grow by prayers going unanswered for what seems an eternity. Yes, the answer finally comes, but faith grows by stretching. It s usually in those dreary days of unanswered prayer that faith grows best. God knows how to give good things to his children. That still sounds like we will get anything we ask for, but consider the implications of Jesus teaching that God is the perfect Father.