Why is God sometimes so silent? The answer differs from one situation to another. No one answer becomes a blanket response to satisfy all situations. One reason is that we sometimes misunderstand the nature of prayer. We pray out of selfish motives. True prayer is God-centered. But we often turn prayer into a self-centered activity. Another reason why prayer may go unanswered is that the person offering the prayer does not believe. The prayer is simply an empty ritual, or perhaps it is simply spoken as a supersitition. It’s like rubbing a rabbit’s foot. Or reading a horiscope. Even people who don’t believe in superstition may occasionally practice these, thinking, “What’s the harm?” Prayer is sometimes spoken without any faith or belief. Answered prayers are preceded by genuine confession of sin by which the barriers are broken down so that God’s message can get through. The point is that you should work to make your OVERALL spiritual life healthy. You cannot have a healthy, effective prayer life if you ignore all other parts of your spiritual life. You cannot harbor grudges in your heart, you cannot allow hatred to be a part of your life, and still receive an answer to prayer. Prayer and forgiveness go hand in hand. No man can be wrong with his brother or sister and right with God at the same time. Sometimes, the problem with unanswered prayer is that our time is not God’s time. And what we often interpret as unanswered prayer is simply a matter of an answer that is delayed. We often struggle with the problem of unanswered prayer as if it is a failure on God’s part. Many of us feel like we have a contract with God and that God is obligated to hear our prayers. We never stop to think that God might have something better in mind, or that we have misunderstood prayer. No matter what happens in our prayers and with our desires, we should always be focused on the fact that God knows best.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 20:00:31 +0000