Prayer

Ever felt as though your prayers were not being heard after praying? Have you ever knelt, prayed to God with your hands clasped, and thought that He just did not hear you?

He is not even paying attention when you ask for something. When you call the prayer line, all you get is a message that makes it seem like he is not there.

Is he present? Is he even real?

Yes, it is the answer. However, the fact that we did not receive what we requested does not imply that God did not hear our prayers or that He does not exist.

Many individuals believe that because some things do not go their way, God does not hear their prayers. They are unaware that God did hear their prayers; he only responded with a "no," "wait," or "we were just not paying attention,"

Occasionally, The Response Is No.

Have your parents ever refused to grant you a request?

Did you wonder if they responded?

Most likely not.

The same is true of God; on occasion, he just says no. We need to stop assuming that a prayer not being answered equates to it.

Giving a child everything, they want spoils them unbelievable, and when the time comes for them to be independent, they will be looking for someone to look after them since they are unable to support themselves.

Our heavenly parent, however, is quite different. No matter how much we whine, cry, kick, and scream, we will not always get our way.

Why?

He does this because He wants us to be free. He is assessing our level of faith to see if we can persevere in the face of adversity. He wants to know that we can remain steadfast in the face of difficulty and have faith in him to supply our needs.

If we know that God will always grant our requests, how else would he be able to put his trust in Him? If we use God as a crutch, how can we remain steadfast in our faith?

But occasionally, he will refuse because it is in our best interests.

Sometimes, what we request is not what is best for us right away or overall. You might not want to choose that girl to be your bride. Your long-awaited dream job can be a nightmare.

"Sometimes, the grass really is greener on the other side." (“021 Sometimes, the Grass IS Greener - Andrew Petty is Dying”) Sometimes problematic roots are hidden by the grass on the other side. Patches of grass occasionally conceal them.

Sometimes We Simply Do Not Listen.

Krista Trippett said, "Listening is about being present, not just being quiet."

God is said to speak in unusual ways frequently, yet people who claim this may simply have trouble hearing. I contend that the way God speaks is not mysterious at all, but rather straightforward; all we need to do is be present.

Instead of focusing on meditation, we too frequently turn to prayer as the answer to all our issues. We continuously feel the need to express our worries to God, telling him what we need, even though he already knows.

We should be paying attention to what God is saying rather than making continuous attempts to be heard. Many of the prayers we believe are not heard are the result of our unwillingness to keep silent.

If someone cannot speak, how can you hear what they have to say?

If we simply listen to God, we would be able to understand what he has to say and learn that he always answers prayers; we were simply not attentive enough to hear it.

However, listening involves more than just remaining silent; it also entails being there.

Have you ever gone to hear someone speak and, after it was finished, you scarcely remembered what they said?

One issue is that we simply cannot recall all that information due to our attention span. We were not present, though, which is the main reason we are unable to understand the information that was given to us.

When you are in the moment, you give your full attention to whoever or whatever is in your immediate vicinity. Many of us mistakenly believe that being present simply involves our physical bodies when, in fact, it involves our minds as well.

So how do we be here now?

Meditation.

Clear your mind of all distractions and racing thoughts before you meditate so that you can hear God's voice, which is what you need to hear.

We Need to Be Patient at Times.

"The person that seeks the Lord finds good; the Lord is good to those who wait for him. It is beneficial to wait quietly on the Lord. Lamentations 3:25–26

When we ask God for something, we should not anticipate receiving it right away because this is not how God works. He is not a God who delivers things the same day.

He asks that we wait. He wants us to turn our faith into action by having confidence in his ability to conduct our requests. Having faith that something will come soon is a huge component of waiting.

God is teaching us to have faith that he will fulfil his promises by having us wait.

He also tries to teach us to wait patiently to learn, in addition to teaching us to trust him.

Why does this matter?

After we have made our demands, we should not simply wait; instead, we should wait patiently.

There is a distinction between passively waiting and patiently waiting.

Waiting is merely being motionless in anticipation of something. On the phone with customer service, in queues, and at stop signs, we do it frequently. Even if it feels like we spend the most of our days waiting, we cannot manage it.

What then do we do?

By moving more quickly, we eliminate the waiting issue. There is a new modern technology that claims to speed up your mobile device, cook food more quickly, or reduce workplace wait times. The issue is that quality suffers as we complete tasks more quickly.

The worthwhile things in life do not come quickly or easily. They demand endurance. They demand perseverance. They demand that you wait politely.

We must exercise patience if we wish to receive from the Lord that for which we have prayed. God would never rush anything that is intended to be beneficial since His work is of the highest calibre and anything He accomplishes will endure.

You would not rush your tailor if you wanted your outfit to fit perfectly, would you? He or she should take their time, in your opinion. You would return for fitting after fitting until they completed the task to your satisfaction, if not better.

God does the same thing as he prepares our blessing. He takes our requests and makes them just for us, ensuring that we receive what we asked for and even more.

Takeaway

Even when the response to a prayer is "no," God still hears it. Because God wants us to be independent, there are occasions when we do not obtain what we want.

He does not want us to use God as a crutch; rather, he wants to evaluate our faith in the face of setbacks. And occasionally, even though we may believe it to be in our best interests, we do not always receive what we desire.

What about the instances, though, where I do not hear from God? What about the instances in which Jesus says absolutely nothing and my prayer is unanswered?

It depends on where you are listening, not that he did not respond. Many of us believe that our prayers are unanswered because we do not give him the time of day to speak to us. We do not devote enough time to simply being there and listening for his voice during meditation.

When it would be much simpler if we just took the time to be present, we tend to believe that God will bless us in a secret and amazing way.

Okay, but what if it takes him a while to reply?

Wait. Be tolerant.

God does not answer the door when we call; he is not our bellhop. He asks that we wait. He wants us to put our faith into practice by having faith that he will grant our requests. He also wants us to have patience.

God wants us to be steadfast in our waiting rather than grumbling.

Because blessings cannot be hurried when they pertain to us. We must be patient because God wants to modify what he has for us to satisfy our requirements and much more.

God always answers our prayers, even if they are not always for the best. But even when he does grant our requests, we must pay close attention and understand that he may not always fulfil his promises to us.

Gratitude for reading.