Why does not God answer my prayer?
“Why doesn’t God answer my prayer?” I always tell myself there must be a good reason. Perhaps I haven’t prayed according to His will, which is a biblical requirement for answered prayers. Perhaps I still have sins in my life that I haven’t repented of. I know that my prayers would probably be more likely to be answered if I constantly remained in Christ and in His Word. Perhaps it’s doubts of faith. Sometimes when I pray, I ask for something but doubt whether my prayer is even worth being answered. God doesn’t answer prayers that aren’t grounded in faith. I believe, but sometimes I feel like the father in Markus 9,24who shouted desperately: “I believe; help my unbelief! ”But perhaps one of the most important reasons for the unheard of prayers is that I should learn to know him deeply.
As Lazarus lay dying, his sisters Martha and Mary informed Jesus that Lazarus was very ill. Jesus then explained to his disciples that this illness would not lead to death, but would serve the glory of God. He waited two more days before finally setting out for Bethany. In the meantime, however, Lazarus had already died. Martha and Mary's cries for help had apparently gone unanswered. Jesus was aware that precisely through this, Martha and Mary, as well as the disciples, would learn and discover something very important! When Martha then confronted him about his, in her view, late arrival, he told her that Lazarus would rise again. She had already understood that there would be a resurrection on the "Last Day." What she had not yet grasped, however, was that Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life! And that everyone who believes in him would live, even if they have died. We read about this conversation in Johannes 11, 23-27“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again—at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whoever lives by believing in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world.’” Shortly before Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, he said a prayer in the presence of the mourners, so that they would believe him when he said he was the Messiah sent by God: “I know that you always hear me; but I say this for the sake of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
“If Jesus had answered the request of Martha and Mary as soon as it came to him, many people would have missed this important lesson. Likewise, we can ask ourselves what would happen to our lives and spiritual growth if all our prayers were promptly answered? Surely we would admire God's genius; but never really get to know him.
God's thoughts reach far beyond ours. He knows what, when and how much someone needs. He calculates all personal needs. If he gives me a request, that does not mean that the fulfillment would be good for another person who asked for the same.
So the next time we feel like God is abandoning us with unheard-of prayers, we should see far beyond our expectations and the expectations of others. Like Martha, let us shout out our faith in Jesus, the Son of God, and wait for him who knows what is best for us.
by Tammy Tkach
