Ask anyone who has stood next to the grave of their deceased child, a child for whom they prayed fervently, if God answers every prayer. From the depths of cavernous pain, they would likely tell you no. But in God’s eyes, is that necessarily true? When considering this question, it's helpful to define what is meant by “answered prayer.” Do we consider a prayer “answered” if it is answered exactly in line with our request? What if answered prayer encompasses more?
What Does the Bible Teach about God Answering Prayer?
First, we need to see what the Bible says about prayer before we can look at answered prayer. Most comforting are verses that tell us God hears our prayers. 1 John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” Psalm 66:19 tells us, “But God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.” Because He cares so much for us (the cross of Christ is the only evidence we need of that), He wants us to know that He hears every word we say and pray.
God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, so He has the power, the presence, and the wisdom to know exactly how to answer our prayers. We can be comforted knowing that James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” We would do well to remember that God's Word calls us to "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (I Thessalonians 5:16-18). Prayer is never to be a one-time activity–we are to be consistent, giving thanks as we make our requests.
Does God Answer Every Prayer with a “Yes”?
As anyone who has ever prayed to his/her Abba Father for a specific answer to prayer, we know that there are only three possible answers: “yes,” “no,” or “not yet.” And we can't immediately know the answer God will give because He wants us to walk with Him in faith. Whatever his answer, we can trust that He has our good and His glory in mind.
If we don’t receive a rapid response to our request, we are left to wait–and to decide. Will we keep on praying, trusting that God wants us to continue to ask, or will we turn our back on God? Those who turn their backs miss out on what God may be doing through the waiting. It shows a lack of faith and “...without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). What that reward looks like and when God distributes it is entirely His decision.
But if God does agree with our request and give us what we’ve asked, we miss out on the miracle of a “yes” if we don’t praise and worship Him for doing so!
Why Might God Say “No” to Some Prayers?
In the Apostle John’s first letter, he wrote, “ And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” I know I tend to pay more attention to the second part of the verse than the first. But the truth is that God answers prayers that are in accordance with His will. While we know it is His will that all would come to Him in repentance and faith (though human freewill means that many won’t choose Him), we don’t know what His will is in individual situations. We may have many questions, fears, and hopes that we bring to God in prayer, but we can be sure that God wants us to bring all these concerns before Him because He cares for us.
God will not, however, answer prayers that conflict with His will. For instance, if we pray that God would bless an unethical business deal or that He would help us get revenge on someone who has wronged us, we know that these things contradict Scripture and God's goodness. James 4:3 confirms this when it says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
For some prayers, however, what we think is a “no” answer may be a “not yet.” The Bible is filled with stories of those who struggled for one reason or another and were called to wait on God for their “yes.” Often it was a situation in which God did even more for the person than they prayed for; people like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Job, Gideon, David, Solomon, and more have stories of God’s deliverance over time. Sometimes God works in our lives in the same way–His “waiting room” can be scary and disappointing, but this is exactly the time when we are called to rely on our faith and trust what we know about Him–that He is a good Father who loves us.
We can’t see the future so we don’t know if God will answer a prayer this side of heaven in His perfect timing, but He will always make things right in eternity. Depending on our level of need or pain, that may not be easy to hear. We don’t want to suffer anymore. But in giving the Apostle John the Book of Revelation, God wanted us to know that His children have every hope since “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). We can release some of our anxieties by trusting that God has a perfect plan and purpose for everything that is higher and greater than our plans.
How Should Christians Pray to Align with God’s Will?
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray to the Father, it was likely because they saw what God did when Jesus prayed and they wanted the same results. Jesus taught them to pray, saying, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”(Matthew 6:10). So when we pray, we always need to say, “But, Your will be done, Father.”
James, the brothers of Jesus, said even when it comes to how we plan for the future, we need to say, “...’If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15). We surrender our will to the will of the Father who knows what is best, whether that means giving us our request, or asking us to trust and wait.
When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers and to be available 24/7 to help guide and comfort us. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to guide us in our prayers in alignment with God’s will, and to pray for us as well. In the Christianity.com article “What is Praying God’s Will,” author Heather Riggleman writes, “Praying God’s will is being honest with him about what we want in prayer, but also surrendering our lives and the outcome of our prayers to him. It’s wanting our lives to align with God’s will more than our own desires.”
What Can We Learn from Delayed or Unanswered Prayers?
Waiting is perhaps the most difficult thing in the Christian life, but it is a way God uses to sanctify us and help us grow. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:3, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." Waiting on God is inherent in this process. Few of us would say we didn’t learn something new about God or grew spiritually by waiting for God to answer a prayer.
Riggleman also made an excellent point when she said, “The best example of setting aside your desires and praying God’s will is found in Luke 22 where Jesus withdrew from his disciples to pray. He knew he would suffer a horrible death for the sake of mankind. He prayed what any human facing death might pray, but he surrendered his will to God’s will. Luke 22:42 says, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Jesus’ physical and spiritual posture when praying this prayer teaches us something else we can learn from delayed or “unanswered” prayer. We need to pray in humility, asking God to forgive our sins and turn away from them. We also need to keep worshiping the One who is sovereign over our prayer requests. King David was famous in many psalms for laying out his request, sometimes with frustration or anxiety, but He almost always came back around to praising God by the end of the psalm. So while we wait, let’s surround ourselves with God’s truth, remembrances of what He has already done for us, and maintain a spirit of thankfulness in all things.
Further Reading
What is Praying God’s Will?
Does God Really Hear Every Prayer?
10 Prayers God Always Answers
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Javier Art Photography
Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).
