Have you ever prayed for something so much that you got sick of praying for it? I have! Sometimes I feel like I am praying and praying, but God is completely silent on the other end. So why pray? What is the point of praying when God doesn’t answer? What good does prayer even do? I have had so many questions on prayer this year, and I feel like I have learned SO much about it. God wants us to question things because that is when we really learn and grow. I think that when we figure out prayer and learn to utilize it as a weapon from God, it is life-changing! So let’s get to work.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”
1 John 5:14
What Is Prayer?
Prayer means to speak and spend time with God. Prayer is believing, not begging. When we ask God for things in prayer, we are believing that He is good and that He wants good for us. Prayer is inviting God’s presence into our lives and circumstances. When we fail to pray, we are showing that we believe we have no need of Him.
Who Can Pray?
Prayer is an incredible gift from God that is available to EVERYONE. In the Old Testament, priests had to intercede for people in prayer. When Jesus died on the cross, he overcame sin and he sent the Holy Spirit to us to intercede on our behalf. We no longer need priests or anyone else to talk to God for us. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit inside of us, which means that we can talk to God whenever we want to!
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Romans 8:26
What Happens To Us When We Pray?
Prayer is beneficial for us because it always carries us back to God. The more we pray, we begin to see God in every detail of our lives. We see that God cares about our depression or our mom with cancer. He cares about the small things and the big things and everything in between. When we realize that, our faith grows and our prayers become even more powerful. Prayer is really for us. God knows your needs already, but when we ask God for specific things in prayer it allows us to see God move in the little details that we care about. I remember many times praying for things that seemed silly to pray about, but that were really affecting me, and GOD MOVED. He wants to move that mountains that are in our way, but we have to pray to Him and have faith that He can.
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
MATTHEW 21:22
Why Does God Want Us To Pray If He Isn’t Going To Answer Every Prayer?
God wants us to pray because 1) He wants to spend time with us. If we never spend time with God in prayer, we never develop a real relationship with Him. Just like any relationship would suffer if you never “talked,” our relationship with God cannot grow without communication. God also wants us to pray because 2) it grows our faith. When we pray for things like God to heal me of my anxiety, we are trusting that God CAN do it and that He WILL do it, but if not He is STILL good. As God answers prayers with yeses, nos, and silence, our faith in Him grows. Because we prayed, we see him working. We see Him heal us, or we see him not heal us and use our experience to help others, or we hear nothing and keep praying. Regardless of the answer that he gives us, our faith grows because we are putting our trust in Him.
Every time we see God move in our lives, our faith grows.
So let me ask you now, what is the point of praying when God doesn’t answer? The point is FAITH!
“Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing.”
james 1:4
What Do We Do When God Doesn’t Answer Our Prayers?
There’s only one thing to do when God doesn’t answer our prayers. It’s to keep praying. I know it seems counterintuitive and not very helpful advice, but it is SO crucial. When you get discouraged from God not answering your prayers in a timely manner, the only thing to do is keep talking to Him. I know it is so tough to pray day after day the same things that aren’t happening, but that’s what God wants from us. He wants us to have faith that He is good and He hears us. Just because He hasn’t answered yet doesn’t mean it’s not His will. Sometimes God makes us wait because He knows what is better for us. God wants us to be strong in our faith and to trust and rely on Him for our strength.
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
Books on Prayer
Here’s a couple of my favorite books that teach you about prayer, how to pray, and the importance of prayer. *Disclaimer: As an Amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I hope this encourages you to KEEP PRAYING and to never lose hope and faith in God. He is so good. I have been reminded in this season of my life to pray for everything. Even when it feels like it isn’t making a difference, trust me, it is. God hears us and He will move. Remember that prayer is believing, not begging. When we pray we are asking God for things that He has already promised us (in the Bible), that is why praying Scripture is SO powerful. I pray that next time you feel discouraged, you pick up one of the books above and keep praying.
You might also like: How Do You Know God Is Speaking To You? and How Believing in Jesus Saved My Life
Check Out Our YouTube Video On Unanswered Prayers
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