Before the digital age, stuff office people had to work on come in piles and are stacked in a tray labeled “PENDING.” It usually pertains to correspondences and requests waiting for attention, sorting, and response. If we dare to imagine heaven’s post office, we could probably see an endless throng of letters mailed representing prayer requests sent in by believers.
But unlike in a busy earthly office, heaven’s prayer receiving area does not have pending prayer requests to sort in. Why? Because we have a God who watches from above and whose ears are inclined towards everything that His people have to say. Yes, to the people whose lives are fully surrendered to Him.
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12
So, you ask, if God indeed listens to us and hears our every petition, why do we still have unanswered prayers? Well, here are some possibilities:
1. God is not answering your prayers because He has answered it already and He is telling you to “WAIT.” Usually God wants us to realize some more things, earn new experiences or skills, or gain more wisdom and insight about our situation before he responds to our request. Again, RESPONDING AND GRANTING ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS, SINCE GOD IS NOT A GENIE OR A VENDING MACHINE, HE RESPONDS AND NOT GRANTS. It is the same with a responsible parent who will not give everything his child asks for just because it will make his child happy.
“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13
2. The second possible reason why your prayers have yet to be heard is because probably, the answer is “NO.” God does not grant our prayers when it is not according to His will. So how do we know if something is not in His will? Well, if it goes against His commands and teachings, it is definitely not according to His will. And when your prayer is not consistent with God’s will, it will not surely be granted.
NOW IF YOU FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT YOUR PRAYER DOES NOT CONTRADICT GOD”S WILL, then you are to follow His instruction to persevere in prayer. Just continue praying for it until God tells you to stop, or He grants your prayer. Let me quote the Gospel of Luke Chapter 11 once again:
“I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Luke 11:8-10
3. The third possible reason why your prayers seem pending is because of unconfessed and unrepented sin. YES, your prayers dol not contradict commands and teachings, and maybe it can even help others BUT if you have unrepented sin/s in your life, it could be the reason why your petitions are sent to the back burner. Throughout the bible it is clearly stated that God does not hear the prayers of the wicked. We become wicked when we rebel against God, expressly violate His teachings to follow our own desires, and not be sorry for the sins we committed. Here is the scriptural basis:
“We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.” John 9:31
Apart from that, the Lord may want you to learn from the natural consequences of your sins, so He lets it run its course until you are genuinely sorry for it, and you yourself would want to change. Here, character is built, and relationship with God is restored.
4. The fourth possible reason why your prayers have yet to be answered is maybe you are being turned down for a higher purpose. God has better plans for you. Maybe, He wants you to experience more hardships, and learn lessons from it so that you can help others who are going through the same situation. In short, God wants to use you.
As one of my favorite preachers says, your misery is the best starting point of your ministry. Think about single parents, victims of violence, persons deprived of liberty, and survivors of supposed terminal illnesses. These people are highly effective in leading to Jesus, the people who are going through what they have gone through. God has good plans for us so we have to trust His process, and possibly part of His plan is for you to comfort others with the same comfort He gives:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
5. Another possible reason why it seems like your prayers remain unanswered is because it has already been answered, you are not just aware of it. Now is that possible? Yes it is. When God answers our prayers, He usually does not directly give us what we pray for, instead He gives us opportunities to get or achieve what we have been asking from Him. And usually, we can seize the opportunity by doing our part and give it everything we got.
For instance, the widow met by Prophet Elisha, was not instantaneously freed for her debts. She had to borrow jars from her neighbors and pour out the last oil she had in her home. Now if she did not had the faith to borrow jars, and did not do the leg work of pouring oils in jugs, then probably her children would have been sold to slavery. (2 Kings 4:1-7)
It is also the same thing with the Manna that rained from the dessert. God did not make bread rain down from heaven so that the Israelites could have something to eat. He instead made them gather flakes in the morning, and then they were to grind it and then bake it before it becomes bread.
Now if they did not see the manna as answers to their prayers, and they did not believe Moses that they should gather every morning enough flakes to use for the day, and they did not process what they gathered, then they would have died of hunger.
The point is, we have to look out for the opportunities God provides, and be willing to work and give it all we have got. So there you have it, reflect on the reasons mentioned above and bash it against your prayer list.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Jeremiah 29:11-14 and Psalm 66 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Do you have a long list of pending prayer requests to God? How do you feel about these prayers, and why do you think God has not answered them yet based on the list above?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for hearing me out each time I call. Give me the confidence my Lord to continue to come in prayer to you my Lord, because you are our Sovereign King. Thank you for having the best plans for my life, and so whenever I am confused or hopeless, please give me the grace to hold on to your promises. Amen.
