Is
God still God when “He doesn’t answer our prayers”?
The
short answer – yes!
But,
since when do I use short answers?
When
we pray, particularly when we pray for someone else, or over a situation
involving someone else, they continue to have the freedom to choose; as do we.
They
can choose to rebel against God, as can we. (Assuming what we were praying over
them was included in the will of God.)
When
we’re praying for someone else, the best way we can pray is for God to get a
hold of their heart, for Him to reveal Himself to them in an undeniable way.
But, instead, we often pray for them to make a choice in a matter that’s
pleasing to us.
When
they don’t comply, God gets the blame and often, we stop praying for them; we “give
up on them”. Ouch!
We
lose sight of our part in their heart softening toward God; they’re salvation
or they’re deliverance, or whatever God is doing in their lives.
They’re
left hanging and we become angry and bitter with the God of our salvation, the
God Who loves us eternally, more than our human hearts can imagine. We’ll miss
out on so many blessings while we’re stewing in our bitterness.
When
we pray, our faith doesn’t disappear when things don’t go our way; that’s when
faith is really tested.
God
already knows your faith is plenty strong enough to hold on. Do
you? Ah, yes, that’s who you’re proving it to. Each test of faith we
rise above is showing us just how strong that mustard seed
of faith, planted in our heart, really is.
Turn
around. Run to Jesus. Right now.
It
may involve tears.
It’ll
definitely involve forgiveness, both giving and receiving.
Now
is not the time to give up on prayer. Now is the time to seek God’s face all
the more passionately. We’ve still got a lot of living to do, a lot of mountains
to climb, a lot of joy to be expressed!
You’re
in my heart, you’re in my prayers.
But,
more importantly, God has not turned His back on you. Run to Him. Now.
“For I am convinced that neither death
nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor
any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –
Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
