Have you ever felt like your prayers were going unanswered? Completely ignored?

In the book on Prayer in A.W. Tozer’s words, there’s a chapter titled “The Dangers of Unanswered Prayer.” This book is a compilation of Tozer’s book excerpts and sermons with extra commentary by W. L. Seaver and additional questions at the end of each chapter.

In this chapter, Tozer says:

Unbelief, not disobedience, was the first sin. While disobedience was the first recorded sin, behind the act of disobedience was the sin of unbelief, else the act of disobedience would not have taken place.

Eve doubted God and that He truly had the best for her. It was pride and it was doubt that led to the disobedience and ultimate sin that fractured humanity.

So if we have unanswered prayer, are we doubting more and more with every passing and assumed overlooked prayer?

It’s easy to get discouraged, especially when you’ve prayed for months or years over something. When will it be answered?

Reading over this, I thought also about Abraham and Sarah. I mean Abraham was a great man of the Bible! He believed that God was good and would provide. Eventually though, with the many years and the impossibility of Sarah conceiving at her age, they lost the belief that God would actually provide the next generation and did things their way. They disobeyed! Why? Because of their disbelief due to a repeated unanswered prayer.

This is the danger of unanswered prayer – going our own way when this asking God doesn’t work out on our timeline or in our way.

How often have our unanswered prayers brought us closer to God rather than further away?

Despite our lack of answers, we should feel confident in this privilege of going to the Father to continue in prayer. He doesn’t grow tired of hearing from us. Tune your heart to Him and His will.

Ask if this is His will. Are our prayers aligned with His word? Do they contradict what He would typically have for His children? Are we living in sin and need to reconcile?

There are things that can hinder our relationship to God, but there’s nothing that can’t be worked out. God is working whether we are or not.

I hope you’re encouraged to keep praying today and the strength is provided to keep going on the straight and narrow, rather than going off course.