Why Won’t God Answer?
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too
short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated
you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not
hear.
– Isaiah 59:1-2
“Why won’t God answer my prayers?” Her voice was
quiet, the weight of sadness heavy on her shoulders. Unshed tears watered her
eyes.
It does seem like God is ignoring us sometimes, doesn’t
it? We pray and pray and pray and still it seems that God won’t respond.
Nothing. No word. No sign. No indication that He’s even heard us.
We wait and wait and wait. The time of decision is at
hand and still we wait. Where is God? You desperately want to do His will but
how can you know what His will is if God won’t tell you?
There are many reasons why He doesn’t respond to our
prayers. Maybe it’s because we have unconfessed sin in our hearts. God may be
waiting for us to acknowledge our own inequities and change our behavior, our
words, our hearts, before He acknowledges our prayers.
David asked God in Psalm 139 to search his heart and
point out anything that might be wrong. We can do the same. Sometimes we harbor
sin without really being aware of it. God will show us if we ask. The rest of
it – confession and repentance – rests with us.
Other times God simply wants us to wait. His timing
and ours rarely seem to be following the same clock. We get anxious, ready to
move ahead. God wants us to feel His peace where we are. There is a lesson in
the waiting. Look for it.
And sometimes God wants us to take a step forward in
faith before He’ll clearly show us the way to go. This is a hard one. We want
to know the path before we cut ties with the past. Where’s the trust in that?
Is God nudging your heart in a certain direction? Pay attention to His still,
quiet voice.
In the study Breathe, Priscilla Shirer talks about a
season with small children and an overwhelming travel schedule for ministry.
She and her husband prayed and prayed and they felt God calling them to step
back and take a Sabbath. It took a while. They had commitments booked out for
about two years. But they set a goal.
Here’s the thing: They didn’t know what that Sabbath
would look like. They didn’t have a plan. But they trusted that God would take
care of them and lead them where He wanted them to go.
They followed God first. Then the call came from
Lifeway asking Priscilla to join their team as a speaker at large events. God
wanted her to stay in ministry, just in a different way that was better suited
to her young children and that particular season of her life.
When God seems distant ask yourself if you have really
listened for His voice? Or have you been waiting for Him to answer the way you
think He should? Sometimes we keep praying about something because we don’t
like what God has told us. That’s not a comfortable thought, is it?
God always hears our prayers. God always answers our
prayers. But we hear from Him in His timing, not ours. And we hear from Him
what He thinks is best and not what we have asked Him to bless.
When you feel God’s silence, hit your knees and look
inside. What are you missing that God wants you to see? Clean your heart and
open it wide. Wait. God is right there.
