When it seems like God has not answered your prayers, it can be easy to give in to discouragement and doubt. Here is encouragement for those of you who may be feeling that sense of discouragement, and some simple suggestions of how to stand strong in faith.
Be an Abraham as long as you can.
This has nothing to do with answers that are a long time in coming, or that can still come if we persist and hang on like Abraham did. If you remember, it got to a place where Sarah’s womb was dead, and Abraham was beyond fathering a child. Against all odds, he continued to believe God’s promise, calling those things that be not as though they were (Romans 4:19-21).
When Faith Fails and Bewilderment Comes
This has to do with prayers that become unanswerable due to changes in circumstances, events, and death. Our immediate reaction can take many directions. We might go the route of guilt blaming ourselves because we didn’t have enough faith. We might become angry with God and want nothing more to do with Him because He let us down and didn’t keep His promises. We might become bitter and let that bitterness create havoc with all our interpersonal relationships.
A Different Choice
We can choose to follow a different path. In making this choice, we must be aware that when feeling betrayed by God we are most vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. He seeks to blind our minds as he blinds the minds of unbelievers. Paul writes, Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God (2 Cor. 4:4 NLT). Keeping this in mind, there are three steps you can take.
First, Decide That God Is Not a Liar
First, and most importantly, we must decide that God is not a liar, and does not change His mind (Numbers 23:19). He values his word above His name (Psalm 138:2; Mark 16:17-18). Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection (Pro. 30:5 NLT). Even though it leaves us with many unanswered questions, it is important to God that we trust Him implicitly (Proverbs 3:5-6). Trust sets God free to work on our behalf.
Second, Don’t Buy into Satan’s Guilt Game
Second, we must settle the question of our guilt. This requires a history lesson. Who is in charge of this world and world systems and is trying to enforce his will? When man gave in to Satan in the Garden and sold his birthright for an apple, he gave to Satan the following titles: Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2); god of this world (John 14:30; 2 Corinthians 4:4); accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). Our redemption transferred us out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s (Col. 1:13). We are now part of God’s ground troops, pushing Satan back and reclaiming the territory he stole. We are Satan’s enemies with delegated power and authority (Luke 10:19; Mark 16:17-18).
Until Satan is bound and put in the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:3) he will continue to constantly harass us, attack us and try to destroy us (John 10:10). Making us feel guilty and feeling like failures is one of his evil maneuverings to try to make us give up, stop believing and stop trying and thereby defeating us and rendering us immobilized in his battle against God. Because grief is a strong emotion, he attacks us when we are grieving. He pours his accusations into our minds to make us feel guilty.
To protect ourselves, we have the Name of Jesus. In Jesus’ Name we tell Satan we refuse to accept his false accusations. We affirm that “… no weapon that is formed against [me] shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against [me] in judgment [I] shall show to be in the wrong. This <peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition> is the heritage of the servants of the Lord … this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me <this is that which I impart to them as their justification>, says the Lord (Isaiah 54:17 AMP).
Third: Learn and Grow
Third, when prayer fails, there is always a reason or reasons. Because we have prayed according to God’s will as written in His Word, we know the reason lies elsewhere. When we ask God why, He may or may not tell us why, especially if it concerns another person and not us directly. Logic leads us to conclude that there must have been things we knew nothing about, and could do nothing about, that caused or contributed to the undesired outcome.
Unless God reveals these to us, we will never know what they were. We must also be open to the possibility that God has something better in store and press into that. God’s nature and love and grace is such that He will use the worst that happens to us and turn it into blessings. His word was and continues to be Trust Me. He never disappoints.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV)
