Tell Me God Doesn't Answer Prayer ...

Tell me God doesn’t answer prayer!

I wish you could “hear” my attitude and inflection as I say that (one disadvantage of technology). Just imagine my typical passionate attitude and know there’s great emphasis on “tell” and “me.”
I’ve thought about posting that as my facebook status for the last week because several BIG things I’ve (and many others) been praying for some friends have been happening, exactly, or nearly, just as we were praying.

First, several weeks ago, one of my co-workers was diagnosed with cancer and the prognosis was very, very grim … in fact, it seemed it was just a matter of time for Jo and that surgery or chemo were not possible or would not do much more than bring some temporary comfort. So many of us were praying for healing and less pain for Jo. If you know Jo, you know what a loving, giving, hospitable, strong woman she is and how generous she is with her time and talents! This just didn’t seem fair and many hearts were breaking for Jo, her family, and our church.

Late last week, Jo found out she had received a “mis-diagnosis” and while she does have cancer (left over from her first battle with it), it is very treatable and the prognosis is much more positive now.


Another rather, in your face, example of an answered prayer came to my friends Erin and Josh. Erin and Josh have been trying to have a baby for a while now and despite seeing fertility specialists and trying many techniques, they were unable to become pregnant. So, they decided to adopt a child. We were so thrilled for them and the past about 6 months or so have been quite a journey for them with paperwork, home visits, and preparations. I could sense they remained hopeful but were a tad disheartened with the amount of time they were told it might take to find a suitable match or be picked by a birth mother. If you know them, Erin and Josh make it easy to love them! They are so warm and welcoming and family and friends mean everything to them. I can think of no one who would be a better parent than they would be! Their struggle was just plain not fair.

This past Friday, they brought their sweet Thomas home from the hospital after getting a call on Thursday that they had been chosen by a birthmother. It has been a rather unexpected whirlwind of events for the family the past several days! But how baby Thomas is the answer to the cries of Erin and Josh and those who love them!

I am so happy for these three dear friends. And it is in times like these that we say God is good. And God is good! But sadly, our prayers don’t always get answered exactly (or nearly exact) the way we want them answered as in these two cases.

Does this mean that God doesn’t answer our prayers? I’m not going to lie … sometimes I want to wonder if God even hears some of my prayers. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t hurry up and make something happen. Sometimes I wonder why God lets bad things happen to good people. Sometimes I can’t understand why things happen the way they do or why people have to struggle and suffer.
But through all of this I firmly believe that God DOES hear our prayers and that God DOES answer EVERY SINGLE prayer we pray. The problem comes in that the answer isn’t always what I want or think it should be. The answer isn’t always good for my timeline. Sometimes I get so busy or bogged down in what I think the answer should be that I can’t notice how God is actually answering or I forget to look altogether.

Scripture tells us that God does answer prayer:

James 5:16 .… The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with …
Job 22:27 …. "You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you..."
Jer 29:12 …. "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you."
Jer 33:3 …. "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things..."

But what I notice about these verses is that they don’t say you get what you want, every time you pray …they simply states that God listens and God is present. I know that God does answer our prayers as “yes” sometimes. But I also am 100% confident that God also answers from time to time with “no,” “not right now,” or “yes, but ….”

Based on past experiences in my life and things I have seen in the lives of others, I am convinced that God does know what is best for us and that is why we don’t always have our prayers answered on our timeline or in the ways we always want. Especially, I remember, as a teenager struggling with why God wasn’t answering my prayers or hearing what I needed. I was downright convinced God was not listening to me. But now I can see things differently. I wasn’t listening to God. And, I think about a child who wants to eat ice-cream right before dinner. It might ruin their dinner or spoil their appetite, right? But they can’t see that at the time. This is much like our prayer and faith life!

Going against our human nature, I am convicted that we should probably be using those moments of “no” or “not now” for good, rejoicing in them, and praising God for them just as much as we do in the “yes” moments. In fact, according to Romans 5:3-4 (The Message), we should “ … continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.” Understanding that “no” or “not now” is best for us is quite challenging.

God is good. God is present. God listens. God answers. Always.