Why Won’t God Answer My Prayer?
“I know God will heal me,” she said. “By His stripes I’ve been healed, so I don’t need to see a doctor.” She went on to describe how God had healed her before and she was confident that he would do it again.
I didn’t say so, but I don’t think she will be healed. I know that Jesus is the Great Physician. I also know He raised Lazarus from the dead, but I don’t believe she will see God’s power at work this time.
I don’t doubt that God is capable of healing. Nor do I doubt that He heals today. I’ve been healed by the power of God, so I can give personal testimony that is faith-building.
But, I don’t believe it’s about me. Or my goodness. Or the way I pray. Or how much I fast.
I don’t even believe that our level of faith is always critical to whether or not God answers our prayer. I know of non-Christians—people without faith—that have had prayers answered.
God is God. He is Creator. He made the world and he made each of us. He is also Lord, Ruler, and King throughout eternity. He is the Alpha and Omega.
It’s all about God.
I am loved and chosen by God. I am the apple of His eye, but I’m less than a blip in the midst of eternity. While the answer to my prayer is important, the answer I’m hoping for sometimes doesn’t get answered because it doesn’t trump the purposes of the Almighty God.
What is important is that the name of the Lord be magnified, that His kingdom come, and His will be done.
If God plans to use a battle with cancer or a financial crisis to bring Him glory and magnify His name, who am I to ask him to drop His plans so He can fulfill my desire for a pain-free life?
Our expectation that our prayers be answered so that everything goes our way is a signal that we are Self-focused rather than God-focused.
In our self-focus, we miss out on God’s grace to walk through the struggles in our lives. Our insistence on getting what we want distracts from our trust and dependence on God for the grace to overcome in the midst of tribulation.
If we’ve given our life to Jesus, then life is all about God. We can’t seek first the kingdom of God while demanding we get our way when we pray. It doesn’t matter whether we struggle with health, finances, relationships, or something else. If Jesus is our Lord, we can trust Him when our prayers aren’t answered according to our desires.
If we love Him and are called by Him, we can also know that He will work everything together for our good. More importantly, we can trust Him to use our adversity for His purposes. That’s where it counts for eternity.
It really is all about Him, not about us. About fulfilling His will, not ours.
He wants us to ask, with faith. He wants us to bring all our requests to Him, but we need to do so trusting that He knows best and with confidence that He will be with us, whatever His answer is.
The good news for us self-centered folks is that when we put His purposes first, we reap a greater blessing than when we insist on getting what we want. When we make it all about God, we can be sure that He will care for us.
It’s often difficult to see how God uses our adversary for good. Have you had times when you later realized that God used your struggles for building His kingdom?
You can leave a comment by clicking here.