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Does God Answer Prayer?



Crying out to God in desperation and feeling like He just doesn't answer can feel isolating. It can make us feel unloved and utterly alone. Sometimes, we feel like God just isn't answering our prayers. We think that because He didn't come out and just give us the answer we wanted, that He didn't answer. We get upset that He didn't give us an answer how we wanted Him to answer us. 

The dictionary defines an answer as a response or reaction to a question, statement or situation. So given this broad of a definition, He may be answering us, just maybe not how we would like Him to answer us. 

James 5:16 says, "The effectual prayers of a righteous man availeth much." I Peter 3:12 says that "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer..." So scripture tells us that He does indeed listen to our prayer. We know from Jeremiah 29:11 that God's plans are to "prosper you and not to harm you. To give you a hope and a future." So logically speaking, why would a God who wants good for us and who listens to us not answer us? 

When we face trials, God desires to walk with us through them. In Isaiah 43:3, we are told, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." He also says that "He will prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies" in Psalm 23:5. So again, a God who loves us, desires good for us and listens to us most definitely answers our prayers. 

We must remember that: 

Silence is an answer. 
No is an answer. 
Showing you your sin is an answer. 
Asking you a question is an answer. 
Sitting with you in your pain is an answer.  
Re-directing you to focus on something else is an answer. 

Just because God doesn't give us what we pray for, that doesn't mean He didn't answer our prayers. Several years ago, I prayed that God would keep my marriage together. I earnestly prayed continuously that God would change his heart. I beseeched the Lord to not let my marriage fall apart. 

The divorce was final about six months later. I could look at this situation two different ways: A) God didn't answer my prayer. I wanted my marriage to be saved, and God didn't answer my prayer. Or B) God wanted to save me from my marriage and the abuse I was enduring. God answered my prayer in a way I didn't want Him to, but I needed Him to. The desire of my heart was to just save my marriage. God's desire for my heart was for me to follow Him. So do I want HIM to answer my prayers, or do I just want what I want? 

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