Unanswered Prayer

by J. BENNISON | Category: For Young Believers | Oct 1956

There have been times in the experience of many believers, when in their distress they had cried to God and the heavens have seemed like brass. With some it has been with strong cryings and tears, but there has been neither voice nor answer. And in bitterness of soul they have reached the point when they almost have said God has forsaken me. We should say here and now that whatever our feeling may be, the Father never forsakes His child. The Lord "Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee " (Hebrews 13.5). A free rendering would be, "~I will never, never leave thee ; I will never, never, never forsake thee."

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I cannot desert to its foes

That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,

I'll never, no never, no never forsake."

In trying to give some help on 'Why God does not always answer our prayers, a matter which has troubled some of the Lord's dear children down through the centuries, I admit that I am unable to deal with the problem as I would wish, because there are so many angles from which it should be viewed. There are those who have difficulty in prayer, and dismiss it as being unnecessary on the ground that the Lord knows all, and as a loving Father knowing "what things we have need of" will supply them without our appealing to Him - faith leaves all to Him! To put it as it was recently put to me by a young believer, the argument is something like this: "I am now a child of God, God is my Father, so that there is no purpose in my telling Him again and again; if He loves me He will supply those needs!

To such a question there is an answer. As the great Creator, God can and does supply the need of every living thing, and gives much without our asking. But surely He is far more than our Creator; He is our Father and our Friend, and He has been pleased to ordain prayer, as a means of approach, and also as a condition on which He will give. In such a way the child of God learns to seek His help, exercising a continuous sense of dependence upon Him, not like the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. How precious it is to enter into and enjoy this secret of constant reliance upon Him and communion with Him, realizing that "Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above "-from the Father (James 1.17).

One reason for unanswered prayer is that we are naturally very self-centred, so that our prayers are often the outpouring of our own selfish wants, rather than prayer in the spirit and the acknowledging and giving thanks to God for His goodness. Prayer must ever have as its objective the glory of God. "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4.6). This is evident in those familiar words which the Lord taught His disciples, the disciples' prayer, not the Lord's prayer-" Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done." And if we are seeking in all our prayers that His will might be done and that He may be glorified, then we can be assured that the Lord will answer in His own way and time.

That brings me to a very interesting point illustrated in an incident in the life of the apostle Paul. He tells us of a trial through which he was called to pass, probably some physical suffering (2 Corinthians 12.7-10). He did what we would all do, cried to God to be rid of it.

For this thing," he writes, " I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." No reader of the Scriptures would doubt that Paul was a man of prayer, and much can be learnt from him in respect to the matter. He sought the face of the Lord in regard to this affliction, a very natural thing for him to do.

There can be no doubt of Paul's earnestness, for he says-" I besought the Lord thrice." No doubt he felt that this "thorn in the flesh" was hindering him in the Lord's service and probably robbing him of his joy also. He prayed therefore that it might be removed, not that the will of God might be done in this matter. Indeed the result proved that it was not the will of God that it should be removed. What are we to conclude then? that his prayer was not answered? No! His prayer was heard and abundantly answered, not by the removal of the thorn, but by the renewal of grace. "My grace is sufficient for thee," was the Lord's answer. The burden was not removed, but strength was given to bear it.

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer."

There are then many reasons why our prayers remain unanswered, but I am convinced of this, that where the conditions are fulfilled by us and for some reason our prayers remain unanswered, God is working out His purpose. His apparent refusal to grant our request is in order that in His inscrutable wisdom and in His own time He will give to us more than we could ask or think. Meanwhile it is our duty to seek to discern His will for us that we might be ready to respond.

May God the Holy Spirit lead us to a closer communion with our Father, to learn the secret of prayer that trusts where it cannot trace. Remember that He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3.20).

"Oh teach us Lord, to wait Thy will,

To be content with all Thou doest;

For us Thy grace sufficient still,

With most supplied, when needing most."

J. BENNISON | Oct 1956
For Young Believers