The Lord Refused to Answer

 God hears every prayer that is prayed, but He does not answer every prayer that He hears. This frustrates many people. We think that we should receive an answer every time we pray, and we think the answer should come quickly. When that doesn't happen, we can get frustrated and even angry with God. 

That is what happened to King Saul. (I Samuel 28:6) He asked the Lord what he should do as his enemies gathered against him. The Lord refused to answer by dreams, by sacred lots, and even by the prophets. He learned a lesson we all need to learn.

Sometimes we have the same problem Saul had because we have rebelled against God, and we are harboring sin in our hearts. (Psalm 66:18) God won't answer our prayers when we are willfully disobeying Him, and when we have known sins in our life that we have not confessed.

Other times, we are praying for the wrong things, so He doesn't answer. Often, we are just praying for what we want and not for God's will to be done. God refuses those prayers, too. God answers us when we pray in faith, asking that God will do His will in our situation or for another person for whom we are praying. He is not our servant; we are His servants. We must remember that as we pray.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 30-31 and II Samuel 1-2.