Unanswered Prayer

Q. Why does God not answer some prayers of his faithful children?”

But He does!

He answers every prayer his faithful children pray. True, he does not always say “Yes.”

Often times his answer is “No.”

But, the “No” is as much an answer to the request as the “Yes,” and springs from the same motive.

When a child, for example, because of its immaturity, makes a request of its parents, which , for the childs welfare, they must refuse, their refusal is to grant the specific request is not a disregard of the child’s petition; it is an answer to it, and an answer based on considerations for the child’s own good. Our Lord promised:

John 15:7
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.”

This is a promise, in principle, that is taught throughout the New Testament, but bestowed within the framework of our own best interests. When we make requests of God which would not be for our good; or when we ask for a small blessing when he intends to give us a greater one, and therefore withholds the specific request, this is by no means a disregard of the petition, but an answer grounded in our good.

We should always remember that God is the only proper judge of our needs, and to keep our requests, as far as possible, within the sphere of his will. John said:

1 John 5:14 - 15
“And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us,
15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”