Unaswered Prayer

“You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

James 4:2-3 ESV

We’re often confused when it seems that God isn’t answering our prayers. We’re confused when it seems that he isn’t providing for us in our need. We’re confused because, in Scripture, God promises to do so. 

This causes many of us to struggle with our faith. It causes many of us to question or doubt the promise of God. We don’t know how we can trust in God when this seems to be the case.

In the above passage James tells us why we don’t have the things we desire. He tells us why God will leave our prayers unanswered. And these reasons begin, once again, with the searching of our own heart.

He says, first of all, that we do not have because we do not ask. In other words, we aren’t bringing to him our needs in prayer. No matter what we claim, we aren’t truly looking to him as our provider.

As we experience needs, we often take God’s grace and provision for granted. We fail to pray about them. We fail to entrust them to God. We, then, blame and accuse him when our needs are not satisfied.

God does promise to provide for us. And it’s true that he knows our needs before we ask. But he also calls on us to bring our needs to him in prayer. We are to bring our needs to him in faith, trusting that he will provide.

When our prayers go unanswered, we must then look at our motives behind the request. And, more often than not, our requests are selfish in nature. We are seeking our own glory rather than God’s. We’re seeking to have our will accomplished rather than God’s.

We must realize that God isn’t simply a Genie in the sky who is bound to grant our every wish. It’s not our will that will be accomplished, but his own. And, as his people, we are called to seek his will rather than our own.

The prayers God will answer are those that align with his will. The prayers he’ll answer are those that agree with his purpose. And as his people, as his children, our will is to be brought into conformity with his own.