Unanswered Prayer

‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ 2 Peter 3.8-9

As we think about prayer, and particularly when we are seeking a specific touch from God, one thought is likely to come back to us time and time again – why don’t things happen as we would like them to happen? Since there is no limit to what God could do, why doesn’t he seem to do more of the things we seek? This verse gives us a little insight into what we might regard as unanswered prayer.

First, it talks about timing. This is not simply in the way that hands move around a clock, as Peter says that such thinking is to misunderstand slowness. Timing is linked to God’s patience and responses that he is seeking to draw out of us. If we are seeking something from God and nothing discernible seems to be happening, might it be possible that he is waiting for some response or action from us?

This does not just imply hidden sin, though of course this could be an issue, but it could be the need for us to face up to wrong thinking. Is the lack of answered prayer causing us to doubt God’s love for us? If so, we probably need to change our thinking. Does the lack of God’s intervention in our life make us resentful of others who are seeing his grace in their lives? Again, we might need to change how we think.

As you lay out your requests before God today, do you sense that you have an attitude that is being challenged? Is there a deeper response that God is seeking to draw out from you?

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