A session from my book Daily Prayer, exploring an issue that will have troubled every Christian at some point in their life, if not many: that of unanswered prayer.
Read
I call to you, O Lord my rock: do not refuse to listen, for if you keep silent I shall be like those who go down into the depths. Hear my entreaty as I beg you for help, and as I lift up my hands towards your dwelling place. Psalm 28:1-2
Ponder
It was a frustrating business. We’d been connected and were enjoying a good chat when suddenly a fault developed on the line and although I could still hear my friend, he could no longer hear me. It felt suddenly as if I was talking to myself. On other occasions like this, the roles may be reversed, so that we are suddenly unable to hear the person we are speaking to even though they continue to hear us. Both scenarios can find an echo in prayer: one day we are blissfully aware of God’s presence and the next it’s as though we’ve been cut off; either our words unheard, unregistered, or the reply being blocked somewhere.
So it was, on more than one occasion, for David. In Psalm 28, he cries out to God, begging him to listen, patently aware that an answer does not always appear forth coming. In Psalm 22, his prayer is even more poignant: ‘O my God, I cry to you by day, yet you do not answer; and by night, yet find no relief’ (verse 2). Those who have never had such an experience in prayer are fortunate indeed. Yet, for David this was not the end of the story. In both cases, he ends his psalm with an outpouring of praise, an expression of trust and thanksgiving, for it becomes clear that God has not only heard him but also responded. Remember that if ever you feel that the ‘line has gone dead’ and your prayers are unheard. The testimony of scripture is that ours is a God who always hears and who will always finally answer.
Ask yourself
Have you stopped believing God will answer your prayers? Have you given up praying as you once did? Are you still open to what God might have to say?
Pray
Living God, I bring to you those times when I call to you for help and you seem to be silent; those days when I do not hear your voice no matter how I listen for it. Help me to understand that even when I feel alone, you are listening, and even when you seem far away, you are always near. Give me faith to hold on, courage to trust in your promises, and humility to recognise that your answer will come in your own time and your own way. May that knowledge sustain and inspire me, whatever I may face. Through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Remember
Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard my plea. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him I trust with all my heart. So I am sustained; my heart dances for joy and my whole body gives praise to him! Psalm 28:6-7
Close
Gracious God, draw close to me and help me to draw nearer to you. Speak to me and help me to hear. Challenge me and help me to respond. Enthuse me with the wonder of your love, and so may joy and peace fill my heart, now and for evermore. Amen.