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But now, O Lord, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.(Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Isaiah
64:8)
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand.
In the United States, you can go to
a bank or other lending institution and apply for a loan. If the institution rejects your application,
they are required to give some indication as to why they rejected your application. God on the other hand, is not required to
give any reason why one of your prayer requests was denied. How many parents in world history have said
no to something their child has asked for?
If you’re a parent, have you always given a full and detailed reason to
your child? If you’re a child or have
been a child and had a parent deny your requests, did you always understand
why? Moreover, if they did explain why,
were you always satisfied with their answers?
As was
pointed out in Part 3, one of the most common illustrations of our relationship
with God found in scripture is the father-child relationship. In fact, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus
uses this illustration regarding prayer, “…[W]hat man is there
among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? … If you
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him”(Matthew
7:9 & 11 NASB). Jesus’ words paint a
picture of God as a good and loving Father who wants to provide for His
children. So, again, why does it seem
that some prayers go unanswered?
We’ve
seen from Biblical passages, that prayers may be unanswered because we pray
with wrong motives. Also, sins and lack
of repentance separates us from God, so much so, He’s even said that He won’t
listen to some people’s prayers. Some
passages portray prayer as a struggle and like other spiritual disciplines
(fasting, scriptural meditation, sitting quietly with God, etc.) there is
purpose in the struggle. Moreover,
prayer is not an Aladdin’s lamp and God is not a genie just waiting for wish
requests. In His Gethsemane prayers,
Jesus submitted His requests to the will of God; that is, He did not demand His
own way, but accepted the will of His Father. From this, we should also see that our
prayers should always be submitted to the will of God.
Therefore,
perhaps, we experience unfruitfulness in our prayers for one or more of these
reasons. Examining our prayers based on
scripture is one way for us to submit our minds, our desires and our lives to
God. If Spiritual Formation (Christ
being formed in us) is our goal, then as difficult as it may be, unanswered
prayers can be how God is reaching into our inner selves. Keep praying.
Examine your prayers in the light of scriptures. Draw near to God and He will draw near to
you.*
Written by Pastor Ozzy
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1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible. LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.
* There are other scriptures that we did not cover, such as 1 Pet. 3:7 that suggests the way a man treats his wife may hinder his prayers. And Daniel 10:12-14, where something, likely a satanic force impeded the response to Daniel's prayers. Therefore, we must not forget, we have an enemy of our souls, who is not flesh and blood and his goal is the kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).
