10 Reasons for Unanswered Prayer — George Verwer

A young preacher who was in college, and he was just getting out of college, first time out of college, going to his church and preach for the first ever time. Great Bob G. of Notes will him, and he preached.

And he said, listen, this is my first time. If any of you got any advice, I really am open to advice. See me afterwards, give me whatever advice you want. And everybody, of course, just shook his hand and thanked him greatly for the message he'd given.

Apart from one old man who waited behind. And the old man said, I've got three things I want to say to you, young man. And the young man said, please, you know, anything, just share whatever you want with me.

And the first thing he said was, well, you read every word. He said, I know, I know, it wasn't good, was it? But it's my first time. Please, please, you know, I won't do it next time. He said, what's your second thing?

He said, the second thing is you read it very badly. He said, I know, I know, but it's my own handwriting, and I'll write it out more carefully next time. What's the third thing? Anything, just tell me.

He said, what you read wasn't worth reading. That's what he thought. Courage, George. You're already dead. Keep telling stories forever. Don't go yet. Okay. If you get any more stories like that, tell them online.

Psalm 88 and the Experience of Unanswered Prayer

Well, I'd like you to turn this morning to Psalm 88. This is a retreat of the unusual. We had an unusual prayer time last night, not a normal prayer time, and I want to do something unusual this morning, unusual for me, at least.

Normally, when I speak, I give an exposition, if you like, from the Bible. I don't want to do that this morning. I hope you don't think I'm backsliding, but I want to take a subject this morning rather than an exposition.

Wow, amen. I thought that would excite people. Just balance, that's all. A few days ago, a young man came around to my house for a chat. He'd fallen in love with a young lady. He hadn't rushed headlong into the relationship with her.

I don't know whether he'd read the discipleship manual, but even if he hadn't, he waited before jumping. He prayed about the matter. He put out a kind of fleece, I suppose, and he felt after all that that God was leading him forward and they had two dates and everything looked good.

And then the young lady said to him, I don't think it's right. She probably used more spiritual language than that, but she said, I don't think it's right. I think we should stop meeting. And the day after, Andre came around to visit me.

This is what he said. It's not the broken relationship which is hurting. I don't think he really understood himself, but that's what he said. It's not the broken relationship which is hurting. I feel God has let me down.

I prayed, I waited. I felt I'd obeyed at every point, but look what happened. And he said this, if only God had said a clear no at the beginning, I could have accepted that, no problem. But it seems as though God has let me down the garden path and left me stranded.

I wonder if you remember a little ship called MV Logos sailing south of Argentina. The vessel was in trouble. Christians no doubt around the world were praying, but the old vessel came to rest stuck on a rock.

And I remember getting a phone call from Dale Rosson. They weren't sure yet how damaged the boat was and the tide was about to rise. And he said, let's pray. Let's really pray. Let's get people praying around the world and let's hope and pray that the ship will be lifted by the tide and sail or float free.

And I prayed certainly, I'm sure many prayed, but the ship remained there stuck fast, eventually written off as a total loss. As far as I know, it's still sitting on the rock today. Now let's read from the 88th Psalm.

Oh Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee, incline thine ear to my cry. For my soul has had enough troubles and my life has drawn near to shale.

I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit. I have become like a man without strength, forsaken among the dead. Like the slain who lie in the grave, whom thou dost remember no more and they are cut off from thy hand.

Thou hast put me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the depths. Thy wrath has rested upon me and thou hast afflicted me with all thy ways. Thou hast removed my acquaintances far from me. Thou hast made me an object of loathing to them.

I am shut up and cannot go out. My eye has wasted away because of affliction. I have called upon thee every day, oh Lord. I have spread out my hands to thee. Will thou perform wonders for the dead? Will the departed spirits rise and praise thee?

Will thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? Thy faithfulness in the place of destruction? Will thy wonders be made known in the darkness and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But I, oh Lord, have cried out to thee for help and in the morning my prayer comes before thee.

Oh Lord, why dost thou reject my soul? Why dost thou hide thy face from me? I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on. I suffer thy terrors, I am overcome. Thy burning anger has passed over me.

Thy terrors have destroyed me. They have surrounded me like water all day long. They have encompassed me altogether. Thou hast removed lover and friend far from me. My acquaintances are in darkness. So there in verse 13, the psalmist says that he cries to the Lord for help.

He says, in the morning my prayer comes before you and then he makes this astonishing statement. Why, oh Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? I wonder if you've ever felt like that, rejected by God.

As though he was somehow hiding his face from you. That's not listening to you. Probably as a good evangelical, you've been taught never to think like that. But deep down, I think if we had an honest conversation this morning, many of us would have to say that it seems to us that many of our prayers remain unanswered.

And if there is an all-powerful, benevolent Father in heaven why doesn't he answer our prayers? Why doesn't he immediately answer the cries of our hearts? That's the subject I want to deal with this morning.

Logical Conflicts and Biblical Examples of Unanswered Prayer

Now of course, there are some very logical reasons for unanswered prayer. I wonder how often two Christians are praying for totally contradictory things. Two fellows, for example, in love with the same girl.

Both pray that God would turn that girl's affections towards them. Any of you like God's job? What about the Christian camp praying for a week without rain? Next door you've got a Christian farmer praying desperately for rain as he sees his crop being damaged by the drought.

So there's some clear and logical reasons for unanswered prayer. But the psalmist is dealing or struggling with something much deeper than that. Look again at verses one and two. Oh Lord, God who saves me, day and night I cry before you.

May my prayer come before you. It seems to him as though it's just not getting through. It's just not getting to God. May my prayer come before you. Turn your ear to my cry. You're not listening, God.

Turn your ear to my cry. Look at verse nine. My eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O Lord, every day I spread out my hands to you. And the Bible definitely gives examples of unanswered prayer. It's not just our experience which tells us that not all prayers are answered.

The Bible will show you that not all our prayers are answered. The most common example of that I suppose is Paul praying for the removal of the thorn in his flesh in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Even though he prays three times, the thorn remains.

An even more interesting example for me is in Romans chapter 15, verses 30 and 31. The end of verse 30, Paul says this to the Roman church. Strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that I might be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.

So Paul says, I'm praying for this. You Roman Christians, you join with me. Pray that I'll be delivered. But you know that he wasn't delivered. In Acts chapter 21, we read of his arrest in that very city, the city of Jerusalem and the imprisonment that followed which eventually led to Paul's martyrdom.

So it is not unqualifiedly true that whatever we ask in Jesus' name, we shall receive. It is not unqualifiedly true that whatever we ask in Jesus' name, we shall receive. Experience proves that and there are biblical examples of that.

Denial, “Yes, No, or Wait,” and Rationalization

Now some people are very troubled by that and they go to extraordinary and in my opinion, spiritually dangerous lengths to solve what for them is a great problem. Let me give you three examples of how people try and solve the problem.

The Bible seems to say that whatever we ask in Jesus' name, we shall receive but experience proves that that doesn't happen. So somehow you have to put the two together. Let's see how people go about it.

One example is denial. We just deny that some of our prayers are unanswered. I heard of one group who came to a Christian union teaching that physical healing was included in the atoning work of Christ.

And of course if you believe that, no Christian needs to be sick. Some of the students immediately threw away their spectacles, they threw away their glasses and they began to claim that their eyesight was healed but it was obvious to others that they couldn't see any better.

When challenged, their reply was something like this. Well I am healed but my faith isn't strong enough. I haven't got the faith to believe it yet. I wonder how such people would respond to someone who died from cancer even though that person who died was being prayed for.

Would they say, well really he's alive and well. He just appears to be dead. Really he's lacking faith. You see where the argument of denial gets you to if you follow it to its logical conclusion. A less radical but very common solution, in my opinion, equally inadequate, is this idea that God always answers prayer but his answer can be yes, no or wait.

So when you pray and it isn't answered, it's not really unanswered prayer, it's just that the answer is no or the answer is wait. Well I'm sorry but that to me seems to be playing with words. Jesus said whatever you ask in my name you will receive.

He didn't say whatever you ask in my name you'll either receive or you won't or you might have to wait for it. He said whatever you ask in my name you will receive. A third option is to rationalize. People, for example, are praying for a man to get out of hospital and the next day the man dies.

The response of the leader of the prayer meeting is well we ask God to release him from hospital and God has answered our prayers. Rationalizing three ways that people seek to deal with this problem of unanswered prayer and I suggest to you this morning that all three of those ways are quite dangerous spiritually.

Sin as an Obstacle to Prayer

So let's think of some of the reasons why prayer is not like a slot machine. You put your requests in, you pull the lever and there's your answer. It isn't like that. Let's consider why it's not like that.

We'll begin with the obvious and then move to the less obvious. I've got 10 or 11 reasons why prayer sometimes is not answered. The first and I guess the most prominent is sin in our lives. The Bible is clear that where there is unconfessed sin in my life, my prayer life will be affected.

Psalm 66 and verse 18 is the most often quoted verse to make that point. If I cherish, if I regard, if I live easily with sin in my heart, the Lord will not listen. It's not only that he won't answer, he won't even listen to my prayers.

At this point that God doesn't even hear when you're praying with unconfessed sin in your heart is drawn out further in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 14 and verse 12. Listen to what God says to Jeremiah concerning the disobedient children of Israel.

Don't pray, Jeremiah, for the well-being of these people. Don't pray for them. Although they fast, I will not listen to their crying. Though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.

So there was no point, Jeremiah, praying for Israel in their disobedience. God wouldn't even listen to Jeremiah. He wouldn't even listen to the people of Israel if they began to pray until the sin was dealt with.

And you remember that Joshua found himself in a similar position after Israel's defeat by the little rural army from the village of Ai. We read in Joshua seven and verse six that Joshua did the evangelical thing.

He tore his clothes, he fell down to the ground before the ark of the Lord, and he remained there until the evening. And then God came by in verse 10. He said to Joshua, stand up. What are you doing on your face?

Why are you praying, Joshua? Israel has sinned. They violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. But it's not only the Old Testament that gives us graphic examples of this. The New Testament is equally clear.

You remember Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five. He's dealing with the sin of anger. And he says in verse 22, anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And then he goes on to say this, a verse we often used to use in O .M.

I haven't heard it so much recently. Jesus says, if you're offering your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift in front of the altar. Go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.

When you're reading your Bible, you often try and bring it into the 20th century culture. If you were doing that with this verse, you would have to, I think, read it like this. If you're at the worship service on a Sunday morning or a Tuesday night, and you're about to break bread, and you remember that your brother has something against you, now note that, note that you've got something against your brother.

You might feel great about him. But you know he's got something against you, therefore the relationship is broken. What do you do? Jesus says you leave your gift. You leave the worship service. You don't break bread.

You don't worship God. You don't break bread if you know there's something wrong between you and your brother. You go and deal with it. And then you come with your offering. It's good for husbands to know that sometimes, it's good for husbands to know that sometimes, if they're not treating their wives well, that will affect their prayer lines.

Just read one verse, which I only came across this morning in this context. 1 Peter chapter three and verse seven. This is quite a challenge to me. 1 Peter three and verse seven. You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way as with a weaker vessel since she is a woman, and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life so that your prayers may not be hindered.

That's clear, isn't it? If I'm not treating my wife well, if I'm not treating her as I should, then my prayer life can be hindered. Well, you could go on making that point from many, many passages of scripture.

And I suppose it's the fundamental reason for unanswered prayer. Harboring sin in our lives. Unconfessed sin, which we're just not dealing with. Let's move to a second, very simple and very obvious reason for unanswered prayer.

Lack of Faith in Prayer

And that is lack of faith. Mike spoke to us last night, and I was greatly helped and challenged by Mike's exposition. He spoke to us from James chapter one. And there in James chapter one, or he spoke to us from James chapter five.

But here in James chapter one, we have an example of what happens when you pray without faith. James one and verse five. The subject is wisdom. You're praying for wisdom. And James says, if you lack wisdom, you've only got to ask God.

He'll give it to you generously without reproach. In other words, you can go again and again to God asking for wisdom on the same thing, and God will never reproach you. He'll never say you came to me yesterday to talk to me about that.

Why do you need to come again? He's not like that. You can come again and again, and he'll receive you without reproach. But, verse six, let him ask in faith without doubting. For the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea or the waves of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

About three years ago, I had a most unmemorable holiday in Wales. We were in a caravan on top of a cliff, and it rained and the gales went, I think, for about 10 days out of the 14. And I remember on one night at least, I think it was two actually, having to get up at three in the morning and go into the awning, that's the kind of canvas bit that you fix on the side of the caravan, and physically, in my pajamas, hold on to this awning so that the wind did not deposit us all in the sea underneath.

The one memorable thing about that whole holiday, my kids say, we'll never go back to Wales, but the one memorable thing was one night we climbed down the cliff, it was pouring with rain, the gale was blowing, and we went to watch the sea.

And I'll never forget it. Terrific waves crashing in against the cliff. And you stand there thinking, that cliff's gonna go, it's gonna be destroyed, but what happens? The wave comes and crashes in, but then it goes back again.

It comes and then it goes back again. And sometimes James says, you're rather like that when you pray. You come to God and then you go away, you're not really believing. You come but you're not really sure.

Gary, as he was praying just before, very honestly said that sometimes he's very skeptical in his prayer life. We were hearing from Mike last night of how it's possible to be agnostic or even atheistic as Christians.

Do we really believe? I was going to preach to you this morning on the fact of God living in us. God, by his spirit, living in us. I wonder if we really believe that. I wonder if we really live in the light of it.

If we're going to know power in our prayer lives, we've got to deal with sin quickly, number one. And secondly, we've got to come to God believing that he is, as the writer of the Hebrew epistle puts it, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Spiritual Warfare and Delayed Answers

So there's two very obvious reasons for unanswered prayer. Number one, unconfessed sin. Number two, lack of true faith. Another clear reason, and again it's a very obvious one, is that sometimes when you pray, there is a delay because your prayers set off something.

They set off, if you like, warfare in heaven. And until that warfare in the heavenlies is won, you will never see the reality on earth. If you want the most vivid biblical example of that, you probably know where to turn.

It's the 10th chapter of Daniel. And if you've got your Bible, you might just turn to it because it really is a very interesting portion of scripture. We're hearing so much and we're reading so much these days about spiritual warfare, or warfare in the heavenlies.

Here's a very clear biblical example of that. Daniel chapter 10. The situation is that in verse one, Daniel had been given a vision, a revelation, which deeply disturbed him. So much so, verse two, that he'd been mourning for three weeks.

He'd been mourning and praying in response to the vision for 21 days. Then look at verse 10. Behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my knees. And he said to me, O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words I'm about to tell you.

Stand upright, for I've been sent to you. Verse 12. He said to me, don't be afraid, Daniel. From the first day, 21 days ago, the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard.

Now isn't that incredibly encouraging? Maybe some of you have been praying for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years for something. Because you see nothing, it doesn't mean nothing is happening. From the first day, says God, through the angel to Daniel, that you began to pray, your words were heard.

And I've come, says the angel, in response to your words. But, verse 13, the prince of the kingdom of Persia, the powers, the spiritual powers, behind the throne of Persia, the great power in the world at that time, was withstanding me for, what?

21 days. So Daniel's mourning and praying set off warfare in the heavenlands. And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. It wasn't until Michael came with help that the warfare was won in the heavenlands and Daniel's answer could be received on earth.

Now it's incredible to think that your praying and my praying might set off that kind of business in the spiritual kingdoms. But there's a further reason for apparently unanswered prayer. Sometimes the delay is because of satanic opposition and a warfare in the heavenlands must be won before you and I can receive our answers on planet earth.

Failing to Listen for God’s Answer

Well, those are three obvious reasons for unanswered prayer. I want to turn now to some less obvious. So my fourth point would be that I believe sometimes God is answering my prayers and your prayers, but the problem is we are not listening and therefore we don't hear God's answer.

And I'd like you to turn to the 65th chapter of Isaiah to see that point clearly. Isaiah chapter 65. In this chapter, first of all, we're introduced to a God who is more than willing to speak to his people.

Look at the amazing mercy of God in verse one. Isaiah 65, one. I revealed myself, says God, to those who didn't ask for me. I was found by those who didn't seek me. Isn't that marvelous? God willing to reveal himself even when people don't want to see him, don't want to hear him.

To a nation that didn't call on my name, I said, here I am, here I am. Verse two, all day long, I, God, have held out my hands to an obstinate people. Have a look at verse 12. I called, this is God, I called, but you didn't answer.

I spoke and you didn't listen. I wonder if often that's the problem. We think the problem is God isn't speaking, God isn't answering. And God is saying, I'm speaking, I'm revealing myself, but you're not listening.

You're not willing to hear my voice. Now why, why would that be the case? Why would it be that we sometimes are not ready to listen to God? Well, I've got a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think sometimes we don't want to hear God.

We're really honest, we don't want to hear him. You see, the problem when God speaks is that it doesn't leave any room for discussion, does it? When God speaks, there's no room for discussion. When I've spoken, there'll be a lot of room for discussion.

I'm sure, you know, you'll be telling me what I've gone wrong over coffee, my kids are always very good at that. There's always room for discussion when I speak, but when God speaks, you don't discuss, you obey.

Doesn't mean you can't tell God your feelings about something when he speaks to you. Thank you, Jesus. Lovely to see the psalmist, you know, crying out in response to what God says and does in his life.

There's a place for that. We always know that when God speaks, however much we want to maneuver, we have to obey. Going back to that young fellow who came to visit me a few days ago, I was bound to ask myself as I was talking to him, and I actually asked him as well, was he really ready to hear God saying no when he was praying for that girl?

Was he ready to hear God say no? I remember a dear Christian mother, she's a really wonderful woman of God, and I was talking to her once about her daughter who's unmarried, and she was praying every day for God to bring somebody into her daughter's life whom she could marry.

And I had to go away from that home wondering if that dear woman was really willing for the no answer. And until we are ready to hear the no of God, we're not really ready to pray. Until we are ready to hear the no of God, we're not really ready to pray.

And that's one reason why sometimes when God speaks, we just don't listen, because we're rather afraid of what he might say. The second reason is that, this is personal, you may not share the problem, but I'm sure I don't give time to listen to God, time to hear his voice.

You know, if there was a crowd of people, and from that crowd a neighbor or an acquaintance called out my name, I wouldn't recognize the caller. But if my wife or my children were in that crowd and they were calling, I would know immediately because I've learned to recognize their voices through what?

Relationship. I've learned to recognize their voice through relationship. I was thinking of Samuel when God called him as a young man, and he didn't recognize that it was God. No criticism across of such a young man, just a challenge for me.

When God speaks, do I recognize his voice? And I come to know him through relationship in such a way that I'll be able to identify his voice when God speaks. Interesting that of all the books I've got on my shelf on prayer at home, and I've got a long, long list of books on the subject of prayer, until recently there was no book on listening to God.

Joyce Huggett has broken the norm with her book on listening to God. But all the books that I've got on prayer are all about talking. There's nothing about listening. Alan Redpath in one of the books makes this typical Redpathian comment.

I sometimes wonder if our quiet times are not huge barriers that impede and hinder our spiritual growth. You can imagine the congregation now sitting up and listening to Alan. Why? Because too often it's my thoughts, it's my words, it's my problems that dominate the tone of my prayers.

True prayer, says Redpath, is first of all taking time to listen to God, to be conscious of his presence and of his spirit in our lives. I sometimes wonder if in our OM prayer meetings we're far too activistic.

We are doing all the talking. We are doing all the requesting. And maybe God is trying to get through. He's trying to speak to us. But we are doing all the talking. And we learn to recognize the voice of God.

Well, one author suggests that if we're going to hear the voice of God, we'll need three things. First of all, we'll need a definite place and a definite time in our daily schedule or in our weekly schedule if we're going to get used to hearing the voice of God.

Now, this is such a common point, you'll think I will be embarrassed making it in an OM prayer meeting. But I wonder if we're willing to give an hour a day, that's 4 of your time on earth, one hour a day just to get used to the voice of God.

Is there a place, is there a time, sorry, in our lives? And is there a place, I've got a place in my house where I go, nothing sacred about the place, but it's one place in my interesting house where I know I'll get quiet.

And the kids know, they can come anywhere in the home to see me apart from that one place if I'm there at a particular time in the day, they avoid it unless they've got a real problem. If you've got a place, if you've got a time, may not be the same time every day, it may not even be every day, I'm not into that kind of fetish.

But is there a time, is there a place in your world where you're gonna get used to listening to the voice of God? This author also says position is important. Might be kneeling in a room, might be a prayer walk for others.

He says, prayer is work, and you must discover the working environment most suitable to you. That's a very good point, Annette. You must find out the working environment most suitable to you, because prayer is work.

And thirdly, if you're going to hear the voice of God, you'll have to learn to deal with distractions. Surely you've all experienced it. You close the prayer room door, if you've got a prayer room, you settle down in your prayer position, whatever that is, and immediately, for my wife, it's questions about the house, you know, is there bread in the bread bin, making the breakfast downstairs, and so on.

For me, it might be, did I make that phone call yesterday? What about that list of seven things I gotta do before nine o 'clock this morning? Am I really gonna be able to get them in? And it's interesting, isn't it, that the moment you begin to pray, it's when those things crowd in on your mind.

You may be reading the newspaper before, perfectly easy to read the newspaper without distraction. But the moment you try and pray, all these things come into your mind. How do you deal with it? Well, I'll tell you how I deal with it.

I always take a sheet of paper with me when I go to pray. And when I get one of those thoughts, you know, have I made that phone call? I write it down. Anything else that comes in, I write it down. Then I feel I've dealt with it, or I've dealt with it to that point, and I can put it to one side.

Another thing I found very helpful was Joyce Huggett's picture of coming down the stream. You're in a boat, and you're coming down the stream, a motor launch. And coming towards you is all the flotsam and the jetsam, the rubbish of every kind in that stream.

But what happens? You push your way through it, through all the flotsam, all the jetsam, steadfastly heading for your destination. Nice picture of how to deal with all that distraction. Just keep going.

You may need to write things down that you've got to deal with later in the day, but keep going in your course toward God and towards meeting with him. Well, there's another thing to check. If you feel your prayer life just isn't meaningful, it's just not getting anywhere, I wonder if the problem is with you.

It's not that God is not speaking, it's that you are not listening. Maybe you're not prepared to listen. Maybe you're not given the time to listen and the commitment to hear the voice of God. Number five, and we've only got 10, and I haven't got to watch, so somebody should blow a whistle if I'm going over time.

God’s Merciful Protection Through Unanswered Prayer

Number five, sometimes God, by not answering our prayers, is saving us from personal harm. Sometimes God, by not answering our prayers, is saving us from personal harm. The lovely little old-fashioned ditty, which I came across not so long ago, which goes like this.

So weak is man, so ignorant and blind, that did not God sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, we would be ruined at our own request. Let me just repeat that, because it's very old English. So weak is man, so ignorant and blind, that did not God sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, we would be ruined at our own request.

You know, it's a very good job that God doesn't answer all of our prayers. Think of Moses, think of Elijah, think of Jonah, just three men in the Bible, who at one point in their emotions got so low that they cried out to God in prayer, the suicidal prayer.

Oh God, take my life. I've had enough. Remember Elijah, right after his marvelous moment of triumph on Mount Carmel, he flees to Horeb, and 1 Kings 19 verse four, this is what it says, he came to a broom tree, sat down under it, prayed that he might die.

He prayed that he might die. I've had enough Lord, he said, take my life. It's a good job, isn't it? God doesn't immediately grant all the requests that come in prayer from our emotional outbursts. I've sometimes heard people criticizing those who when they make their request to God continue with those words, if it is your will.

A lot of people don't like that, do they? They think it's kind of cop out, shows a lack of faith, and I suppose it could be, but not necessarily. I know that I'm weak. I know that I don't know myself.

I want God's will, not the whims and fences of my own emotions. God knows best, and I want his best for me. I'll never forget Elizabeth Elliot's words. Thy will be done is the rule of heaven. My will be done is the rule of hell.

When Unanswered Prayer Serves Others

Hell is the place where you finally get your own way. Sixthly, it may be better for others sometimes if our prayers remain unanswered. Again, our emotions so easily lead us astray. I hope you've read Martin Lloyd-Jones' biography, a couple of volumes.