"Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers," is how the chorus begins on a certain country song. The writer is expressing his elation that life did not turn out the way he had hoped for at the time that prayer was made. It also implies that God knows what is best, and that folks should not despair when their prayers are not answered in the way they would like.
How are we to talk to God and make our requests known to him? Scripture says we do that "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4:6, NKJV). God wants us to talk to him through prayer and to do it regularly and faithfully (Luke 18:1; 1 Thess. 5:17). When we do, he promises a peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). But this type of communication is different than communicating with our fellow man.
When we communicate with others, we usually get an immediate response, and thus we know that our words have been received and acknowledged. But with prayer, our heavenly Father does not answer back with a voice from heaven that we can hear, as he did when Jesus was baptized (cf. Matthew 3:16-17). Therefore, we may sometimes ask, "Why doesn't God answer my prayer?"
Most of the time we know the answer to that because God has already spoken his will to us through Scripture. Thus if I ask that my grandmother could live to be 150 years old because I love her and want her with me on this earth, I should know that request would be denied because God's will is for man's years to be fewer than 150 (cf. Psalm 90:10; James 4:14). There are some that make it to 100 or so, but not since Genesis has anyone lived to be 150 years old.
But there are other requests that would fall within the will of God, such as meeting the right person to be one's future spouse. But it may be that request is not immediately granted or never granted. Why? The answer may depend upon a lot of things, but since we know God has our best interest at heart (cf. Romans 8:28), we must continue to trust him and continue in joyful service (cf. 1 Thessalonians. 5:16-18). Job, a righteous man, asked why certain things were happening to him, and it should be interesting to us, that when God spoke to him in the final chapters, he did not tell him why.
Ultimately, when it seems that our prayers may not be answered in the way we would like, we must go from the question of "why" to "how." "How can I glorify God in my current state?" By exploring this question, we can go from the field of forlornness to the path of purpose. Since we were created to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7), it is there that we will find true joy whatever our circumstances may be. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Brotherly, Jamie
