Unanswered Prayers

 All kinds of people pray for all kinds of reasons. The one thing that they all have in common is that they want to get an answer to their prayer. Yes, I know that sometimes we just talk with God, praising Him and thanking Him for all He is and all He has done for us, even confessing our sins, but most of the time we also make requests from the Lord. When our prayers are not answered that causes us some distress.

That is what happened to King Saul near the end of his life. The Philistines were planning an attack on Israel, and Saul wanted to hear from the Lord about what he should do to prevail over his enemies. (I Samuel 28:6) When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. This put Saul into panic mode. We need to learn from his experience.

Saul had been unfaithful to the Lord, not obeying His commands, but taking things into his own hands. Finally, God departed from Saul. That doesn't mean he was lost and did not believe in God. It meant that the Holy Spirit left him, and God was no longer empowering him by the Spirit to be the king. Why should God answer his prayer, if he was not going to be faithful to do His will? Sometimes, God doesn't answer our prayers because He knows we are not going to be faithful to Him if He does answer us.

Therefore, we need to search our hearts before we pray. We need to pray with sincerity and faith, letting God know that we are not seeking our will to be done, but His will. We must show the Lord that we are ready to believe and obey what He tells us. Then, if we pray according to God's will, and we humbly submit to Him, He will answer us. He may say "no" or "wait," but He will answer.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 30-31 and II Samuel 1-3.