Unanswered Prayer
by David Cross
Prayer that seems to receive no response from God is not an unusual issue! The psalmists in the Bible frequently commented on God’s apparent silence (Psalm 83:1, for example), and even Jesus went through the experience of feeling utterly forsaken on the cross, as He cried out with the some of the first words of Psalm 22, which say: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Far from deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest’.
Jesus truly knows how we feel when prayer seems to be unanswered.
However, our not hearing an answer from God does not mean that He’s not listening. Our relationship with Him is essentially one of faith, which requires our walking in the assurance of God’s word, before it is seen as fact. This can be hard, but waiting on God for an answer, particularly when praying for healing, can also be a precious opportunity to grow in our knowledge of truth about Him and, more likely, the truth about ourselves. This may be in areas such as unbelief, unforgiveness or unreality about the root issues of the problem. These truths are revealed not to condemn us, but to challenge us in places that could be giving the enemy an opportunity to resist the healing that God has for us.
I’m sure that Daniel was impatient to receive an answer to his prayer for explanation of the vision which he had received, but he was probably very surprised at the reason given to him for the delay in receiving God’s response.
Our part on the journey of wholeness and freedom is to humble ourselves before God, make our requests known with persistence (Luke 18:7), walk in the truths that He reveals, and wait for Him to respond how and when He decides it’s appropriate to answer the essence of our prayer.
Prayer: Dear Father, unlike Daniel, I’m seldom going to be fully aware of the significant contention in the heavenly realms that surely exists over every step forward that I make with You, but I choose to trust You in the waiting for answers to my prayers. Amen.
David Cross David is part of the Executive Leadership of Ellel Ministries, with particular responsibility for the Ellel centres in Western Europe. He is married to Denise and they have three grown up children and eight grandchildren. David has been a civil engineer and ski-touring instructor in the Highlands of Scotland. He is passionate about the teaching and practice of the healing and deliverance ministry of Jesus and has written several books: Soul Ties, Trapped by Control, God’s Covering, The Dangers of Alternative Ways to Healing(co-authored with John Berry), an A to Z Guide to the Healing Ministry, What`s Wrong with Human Rights? and, most recently, God`s Way out of Depression. You can follow a daily thought from David on Twitter: @dmcross62
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
