SHOULD I CONTINUE PRAYING IF GOD HAS NOT YET ANSWERED ME?
Sakkie Parsons
Someone asked me whether they should continue praying if they have prayed many times and GOD has not answered them.
Is it possible that God no longer listen to them?
I am sending you the answer that the Lord placed on my heart to send to this person. Perhaps you know someone who is struggling with the same questions.
I want to begin by saying that I do not claim to be a great theologian. However, I do know that I am a child of God, and in everything I share with others, I hold God’s Word as my highest authority. I certainly do not have all the answers, but I can share what I do have, and the first thing I must tell you is that one must definitely continue praying.
Luke 18:1-8 (AMP)
1 Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,
2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and had no respect for man.
3 There was a [desperate] widow in that city, and she kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice and legal protection from my adversary.’
4 For a time he would not; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,
5 yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will be an intolerable annoyance, and she will wear me out.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says!
7 And will not [our just] God defend and avenge His elect [His chosen ones] who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [in providing justice] on their behalf?
8 I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [this kind of persistent] faith on the earth?”
Personally, I have also been asking the Lord for help in a certain matter for a long time, and He has not yet done anything that I can see, but that will not stop me from continuing.
You see, for me, the fact that He has not answered is not proof that He does not hear me, but proof that He knows that it is not the right thing for me to receive now, or that it is not the right time to receive it.
Paul was a man who lived so close to the Lord that even when people laid cloths that had touched him on the sick, they were healed.
Acts 19:11-12 (AMP)
11 God was doing extraordinary and unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that even handkerchiefs or face towels or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
This mighty instrument in the hands of the Lord testified about a problem in his own life as follows:
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (AMP)
8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me;
9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for My power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.”
There are many things I do not understand. For example, I do not understand why God did not simply destroy the devil at the beginning. He can do anything.
I also do not understand why God allowed the following to happen in Daniel’s case while Daniel prayed for so long:
Daniel 10:10-14 (AMP)
10 Then behold, a hand touched me and set me unsteadily on my hands and knees.
11 So he said to me, “O Daniel, you highly regarded and greatly beloved man, understand the words that I am about to say to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” And while he was saying this word to me, I stood up trembling.
12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding [this] and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in opposition to me for twenty-one days. Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision is regarding the days yet to come.”
I look at the things I do not understand as Paul did:
1 Corinthians 13:12 (AMP)
12 For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes, we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God].
No matter what happens when I pray in faith, whatever happens is the best thing that could happen to me in all creation.
Romans 8:25-28 (AMP)
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.
26 In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words.
27 And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will.
28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.
Greetings,
Sakkie
Email: bediening@sakkieparsons.co.za
Website: www.sakkieparsons.co.za
Cell: 083 457 6669
Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
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