How many times have you prayed for God to heal you or someone else? How many times have you begged him to heal someone? How many times have you asked him over and over and over again to heal your loved one?
Have you ever felt like one of the people in Jesus’ parables about prayer? Maybe the man demanding three loaves of bread from his neighbor in the middle of the night? Or the widow annoying the judge until the judge finally says, “Yes.”
I’ve been there. I’ve told myself to keep on praying, no matter how discouraged I grow, because those parables teach me to keep on praying. And praying. And praying. And praying.
Still, one begins to wonder, eventually, if God might be saying, “No.” And then, the endless praying for the same need begins to seem almost defiant. And the intercessory pleas begin to lose their urgency and their hope.
Catherine Marshall’s Something More
Because I have been in this situation more than once in my life, I was very interested in Catherine Marshall’s discussion of unanswered prayer in her book Something More. The widow of Rev. Peter Marshall, who died unexpectedly at age 46, Catherine was left with their nine-year-old son, Peter John. Years later, she lost two grandchildren shortly after birth, in spite of the earnest prayers of herself, Peter John and his wife, the members of Peter John’s church, and many others.
It won’t surprise you that Catherine struggled with a crisis of faith after the death of another grandchild, Amy Catherine, who was only six weeks old. (Her first grandchild, Peter Christopher, had lived two weeks.) Catherine had prayed earnestly over her husband, over Peter Christopher, and over Amy Catherine. And God had turned His back on her all three times.
Hadn’t He?
Catherine didn’t even have the opportunity to pray and pray and pray for months and years on end. The answer was an abrupt, definitive “No,” overnight in her husband’s case and in less than two months in the cases of her grandchildren. What was she to think? What was she to believe?
Giving Thanks in Everything
As I understand it, Catherine’s “war” with God came down to I Thessalonians 5:18, KJV “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Did God want her to thank Him for taking her beloved husband from her? And those tiny, helpless grandchildren?
Granted, she could thank Him in the midst of those situations. But what about thanking Him for those situations?
Hello?… Are we making sense here?
Hard Answers
As Catherine prayed and searched for answers, she began to realize she was going to have to accept the fact that no evil could touch her life unless our omnipotent God pulled aside His protection and let it enter her world. His protection around His children is that complete. Nothing gets through unless He lets it through.
And she was going to have to surrender her deep desire to understand why horrible things happen. Instead, she had to be satisfied with the simple prayer, “Lord, what is Your will for me in the midst of these circumstances?”
Exciting Answers
Having reached these conclusions, Catherine was ready to move on to the next powerful step in her spiritual journey: praise. The Bible calls us to give thanks always for all things (Ephesians 5:20) and to offer our prayers with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). In Psalm 34:1, David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Chapter 2 in Something More is titled “The Golden Bridge of Praise.” In this chapter, Catherine gives examples and explains her belief in the value and the power of praise. She closes the chapter with, “I am convinced that living at the point of praise and seeking it will lead us to the richest discoveries we have ever made.”
So, What’s the Answer to the Question?
Of course, our real question isn’t so much, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” as it is “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers the way I want Him to?”
My best answer to the question is that we’ll find out when we get to Eternity. But in the meantime, there is good news. As I was meditating on this blog, living through Catherine Marshall’s losses with her, and recognizing some of my own issues, I made a discovery.
No, I don’t understand why God says, “No,” or “Wait,” when I want Him to respond with a “holy zap.” But praising Him for a situation, instead of grieving and self-blaming for my weak prayers, is liberating!
Of course, I can continue to intercede for God’s intervention. But I can also praise and thank Him in every situation. I can thank Him for the loved ones I’m praying for. I can praise Him for the good He is accomplishing through this difficulty. And I can rejoice in the confidence that His concern for me and my loved ones is infinitely greater than I’ll ever understand.
The heavy weight of not being able to find the right words to move God is gone. It is replaced by the blessed joy of giving my Gracious Lord the praise and thanksgiving He so richly deserves!
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If you’d like to read a summary of the Bible in less than two hours, I hope you’ll check out my blog on my latest book, The Bible in Brief: a Historical Summary of God’s Story from the Beginning to the End of Time.
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Blog Index – Lists blogs 1-35
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