“Every day I call to You, my God, but You do not answer. Every night You hear my voice, but I find no relief.” (Psalm 22:2 NLT)
Why is prayer so hard sometimes? David (above) cried out to God, but sensed no relief, no answer from the Lord. Silence from heaven can be crippling, yet, isn’t that the essence of that upon which our faith is built? Don’t we walk by faith and not by sight? Is God obliged to respond to our every cry for help?
It may seem I’m making an effort to let God off the proverbial “hook,” but that’s not the case. Even David acknowledged “Every night You hear my voice” but God’s seeming lack of response to his prayers frustrated and confused him. They can confuse us as well.
As a rule, the Lord answers in one of three ways: “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.” We love “Yes!” Typically despise “No.” and wrestle with “Wait.” But here’s the deal, prayer isn’t only about God, it’s also about us. Prayer is a conversation between two intelligent persons who both have the ability to think, reason, and who have wills. When our wills collide friction often results.
We want what we want when we want it. Ask any 2-year old! Unfortunately, there’s a part of us who never grows out of our “terrible two’s!” We get stubborn and bull-headed with God when He doesn’t answer us quickly and, at least in our minds, correctly. We ask for a raise and expect it in our next pay cycle; we ask for healing and expect immediate results, and, in a sense, why shouldn’t we? Isn’t that the way He answered in the Bible?
Yes, and no! Many of His miracles saw immediate results, but some unfolded over time. For example, He promised Abraham a son that took many years to come to fruition. Similarly, many of my fellow believers, as I personally know, have prayed for decades for lost loved ones, some of whom never come to know Him. Is God to blame for that? Is God the proverbial “genie” that is obligated to answer our every prayer in a way that pleases us?
H. B. Charles Jr. makes an interesting observation when he writes: “It may seem God did not answer prayer when the real issue may be that we did not like the answer.” Shouldn’t God save everyone for whom someone is praying? A couple of things I know about that. First, God DESIRES to save everyone, whether someone is praying for them or not (check out John 3:16), but He won’t force anyone to be saved. Salvation is a gift offered that must be received. The door of our heart is only opened from the inside. Though the Lord knocks, He is a Gentleman and will not force His entry into a place He isn’t invited.
With all my heart I begged God to save my marriage, but my wife still left. Is that God’s fault? Did God fail me? Absolutely not! Why not? Because He will not force the will of another person to be bent or broken in order to please us. He will not force our spouse, our boss, our neighbor, friend or loved one to do what we want.
And here’s another very frightening element of this whole process of prayer and God’s will: He will not always prevent someone from hurting or even killing us or a loved one. I think of the millions of believers who are being tormented, menaced, and murdered every day in our world. It’s frightening and angers me that human beings can be so inhumane to one another, but our day is coming. And when it does if I have the choice of being maimed, constantly hassled and tormented, or going to be with Jesus, take my head, you’ll be doing me a favor!
Of course, I’m willing, as I pray you are, to leave that decision to our Master.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 