It’s Not That God Didn’t Answer Your Prayers, It’s That You Didn’t Get The Response You Wanted
By: Isaac Breese
Tags: Christianity, Spirituality, Listening, Faith, Religion

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Have you ever prayed to and felt as if you’re prayers weren’t answered? Have you ever gotten on your knees, clasped your hands together, prayed to God and felt as if God simply didn’t hear you?

You ask for something and its as if he’s not even listening. You dialed the prayer hotline and all you get is a voicemail as if he’s not there.

Is he there? Does he even exist?

The answer is yes. But just because we didn’t get what we asked for doesn’t mean he didn’t answer our prayers or that he doesn’t exist.

A lot of people think God doesn’t answer prayer because some things don’t go their way. What they don’t realize is that God did answer their prayers he just said no, wait, or we simply weren’t paying attention.

Sometimes the answer is NO

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Have you ever asked your parents for something and they said no?

Did you question whether or not they replied?

Probably not.

It’s the same thing with God; sometimes he just says no. We have to stop thinking is that no means an unanswered prayer.

A parent who gives their child everything they want spoils them to no end and when it’s time for that child to be on their own they’ll be looking around for someone to take care of them because they are unable to stand on their own.

But our heavenly father is much different. As much as we complain, pout, kick and scream we won’t always get what we want.

Why?

Because He wants us to be independent. He is testing our faith to make sure we can stand strong when things don’t go our way. He wants to know that when things get hard we can be firm and trust that he will meet our needs.

How else would he learn to trust God if we know He will always give us what we ask? How can we stand firm as believers if we treat God as a crutch?

But sometimes when he says no its because He wants what’s best for us.

What we ask for isn’t always what’s best for us at the moment or at all. That girl that you want for a wife may not be the best decision. That dream job you’ve been waiting for may just be a nightmare.

At times, what appears to be greener on the other side may be so green after all. Sometimes the grass on the other is hiding bad roots. Sometimes the grass is hiding patches.

Sometimes we just aren’t LISTENING

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“Listening is about being present, not just being quiet” — Krista Trippett

People often say God speaks in mysterious ways but those who say this may just have a hard time listening. I would argue the way that God speaks isn’t mysterious at all but rather simple, we just have to be present.

Too often we look to prayer to solve all of our problems instead of focusing on meditation. We always feel the need to voice our concerns to God constantly telling him what we need forgetting that he already knows.

Instead of repeatedly making attempts to be heard, we should be listening to what God has to say. A lot our prayers that we think go unanswered can simply be attributed to our unwillingness to be silent.

How can you hear what someone has to say if they can’t get a word in?

If we just listen to God we will be able to hear what he to say and find out that he always answers prayers we just weren’t quite enough to receive the message.

But listening is more than just being quiet, listening is about being present.

Ever went to go hear someone speak and after the event was over you can barely recall what they said?

One reason is our attention span and the fact that we simply can’t retain all that information. However, the main reason we are unable to comprehend the information given to us is that we weren’t present.

When you are present you give your undivided attention to whoever or whatever is in your presence at that very moment. Many us think that being present is only physical when in fact it’s very much psychological.

So how do we become present?

Meditation.

When you meditate clear out all outside and thoughts you have running around in your head to make room to hear what you need to hear; God’s voice.

Sometimes we have to be PATIENT

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“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait on the Lord quietly” — Lamentations 3:25–26

When we ask God for something we shouldn’t expect to get it right away; God doesn’t give us what we want right away. He’s not a same day delivery kind of God.

He wants us to wait. He wants us to put our faith into practice by trusting that he will do what we asked. A big part of waiting is trusting that something will happen in the near future.

By making us wait God is teaching us to trust that he will eventually do what he promised he would.

Not only is he trying to teach us to trust him he is trying to teach us to learn patiently

What does this mean?

After we have made our requests we shouldn’t just wait we should be patient in our waiting.

There’s a difference between simply waiting and waiting patiently.

To wait is simply to stay in place in expectation of something. We do it all the time on the phone with customer service, in lines, and at red lights. It seems like most of our day is taken up by waiting but we just can’t stand it.

So what do we do?

We fix the waiting problem by speeding things up. Just about every day, there’s a new technology that promises to cut down wait times at work, cook food faster, or make your mobile device faster. The problem is when we do things faster we get less quality.

The things in life worth having don’t come easy nor do they come quick. They require patience. They require steadfastness. They require waiting without complaint.

If we want to receive what we have asked from the Lord we have to be patient. God is never going to rush anything that is meant to be good because His work is of quality and what He does will last.

If you wanted your suit to be the perfect fit you wouldn’t rush your tailor would you? You would want him or her to take their time. You would keep coming back for fitting after fitting until they got the job done just the way you like it if not better.

When God is preparing our blessing he is doing the same thing. He takes what we ask and tailors it just for us to make sure that we get exactly what we wanted if not better than what we originally asked for.

Takeaway

God always answers prayers even when the answer is no. Sometimes we don’t get what we want because God wants us to be independent.

Instead of using God as a crutch he wants to know if we still have faith even when he doesn’t give us what we ask of Him. And sometimes we don’t get what we want because what we may think is good for us really isn’t.

But what about those times when I don’t hear God? What about those times when he simply says nothing at all and my prayer goes unanswered?

It’s not that he didn’t answer it’s a matter of were you listening. A lot of us feel as though our prayers go unheard because we don’t take the time to listen to what he says. We don’t spend enough time in meditation just being present and listening for his voice.

We think God will bless us in a mysterious and miraculous way when really it could be much easier if we just take the time to be present.

Ok, but what if it takes a really long time for him to respond?

Wait. Be patient.

God isn’t our bellhop, he doesn’t come running when we call. He wants us to wait. He wants us to practice our faith by trusting in him to provide what it is that we have asked for. Not only that he wants us to be patient.

God wants us not to complain in our waiting but to be steadfast.

Why?

Because when it comes to our blessings they can’t be rushed. God wants to tailor what he has for us to meet our needs and much more but we have to be patient.

God always hears what it is we asked for but sometimes it’s not for our good. But when he does give us what we have asked of Him we have to make sure we are listening and know that what he promised us won’t always come right away.