Sound of Surviving Blog

I pray all the time. I pray, praising God for the good things and a lot of prayers asking him to alleviate or remove the bad things in my life. I pray for my bodily ailments to get better, for my family and friends, that God would take their pain and heartache, etcetera. But sometimes, it seems like God leaves my prayers unanswered.

Something I often struggle with as a believer in Christ is that I think that I know when God should answer my prayers. (Here’s a hint: it’s not later on, or next week). I want these prayers answered right away!!! But often, that’s not the case. We often lose faith, or hope in God, because it seems like no matter how many prayers we pray, they go unnoticed. I can assure you that is not true. God’s ears are attentive to our prayers (1 Peter 3:12).

God doesn’t tell us that he will answer our prayers in the timing or even how we want him to, but he does promise that he will answer them. God does promise though, that he will answer our prayers if we remain in him and trust him. John 15:7 states, “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We may feel like God doesn’t hear us, like our prayer is always left unanswered. Just because we can’t see what God is doing to answer us, doesn’t mean he isn’t going to. Part of faith is believing without seeing. We can’t see God, or see how what seem like minuscule and ordinary things are all working together for our good, or to answer our prayers.

But I promise you, that these things God places in our lives are indeed working for our good. There are so many moments I can look back on from the past, and think to myself, “Oh, so that’s what He was doing.” One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis is, “I believe in Christ like I believe in the Sun, not because I can see it, but by it, I can see everything else.” I love this quote, because it emulates the main message of 2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” We expect God to do things to answer our prayers immediately, and right away because that’s how our world is, if we want something done, we get it done right away. But we forget that God is not of this world; his ways are higher than our ways, and his timing is flawless. We need to trust God and remember that, as Proverbs 23:18 says, “There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” For if God is for us, who can be against us? Trust in and wait upon the Lord; he hears your prayers, and he will answer them in a more amazing way than you could ever imagine.