Why God Delays
Answers to Prayer
There are many
reasons why, God does not answer
all prayers, or why He delays to
answer. The greatest reason is sin.
Says the psalmist, “If I
regard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me.”
Psalm 66:18. To
“regard” here means to
think well of, to be pleased
with, and to love. Of Christ it
is written, “Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated
iniquity; therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed Thee.”
Hebrews 1:9. Christ did not
“regard” iniquity in
His heart; He hated it.
Therefore, God anointed Him.
“Your
iniquities have separated between
you and your God, and your sins
have hid His face from you, that
He will not hear.” Isaiah
59:2. Note these dreadful words:
“Though they shall cry unto
Me, I will not hearken.”
Jeremiah 11:11. “Yea, when
ye make many prayers, I will not
hear.” Isaiah 1:15.
If the Lord
does not hear our prayers, it is
not because He is unwilling or
unable to help. “The
Lord’s hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save;
neither His ear heavy, that it
cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1.
The Lord can hear what we say,
but He may not answer, because
sin has made a separation between
Him and us.
This does not mean
that we have to be sinless before
the Lord will answer prayer.
However, it does mean that we
must not regard sin, not love or
harbor it, but hate it as Christ
hated it.
This point needs
to be stressed lest some become
discouraged as they think of
their sins of the past, and fear
God will not hear them. Does God
not hear sinners? Most assuredly
He does. If He did not, no prayer
from human lips would ever reach
Him; for “all have
sinned.” Romans 3:23. David
himself sinned grievously; yet,
upon repentance, he would say,
“Verily God hath heard me;
He hath attended to the voice of
my prayer.” Psalm 66:19.
David had sinned deeply, but he
repented as deeply as he sinned;
and he no longer looked with an
approving covetous eye on sin as
he had done before. Almost in
surprise he exclaims,
“Verily God hath
heard me.” If God heard
David despite his sin, all may
take courage. David committed
adultery, and, worse, he murdered
the faithful husband-a sin that
would seem unforgivable. We
repeat, if God heard David, we
may be confident that God will
hear us.
There are times
when God does not answer our
prayers immediately, and we are
tempted to fear that He will not
answer at all. This may not be
the case, but more often God
waits until He in His wisdom
decides that the time has come to
respond.
There are three
ways in which God may answer our
prayers: He may say, “No;”
He may say, “Yes;”
or He may say, “Wait.”
The last answer is the most
common, and in some respects the
hardest; but it is always the
most profitable for us if we have
learned to wait upon God.
One reason why God
waits is to test our sincerity
and earnestness. Do we really
pray with an honest heart and
sincere desire to know and to do
God’s will and abide by the
answer, whatever that may be?
Alternatively, is our prayer but
the whim of a moment? Are we like
Pilate, who asked the momentous
question, “What is
truth?” and went away
without waiting for an answer?
John 18:38. His question was not
grounded in a desire to know the
truth in order to live it. It was
merely an idle question asked out
of curiosity. Speculative
questions do not interest God.
Pilate was not sufficiently
interested to wait for an answer,
so he never found out. “If
any man will do His will, he
shall know,” says God. John
7:17. That is, only as a man will
do God’s will, will he in
reality know. When we pray to God
that we should ask ourselves, are
we dead earnest? Do we really
want to know the truth for the
purpose of doing it? On the other
hand, are we playing with God and
sacred things?
God Wants
Us to Decide
Another reason why
God does not answer all questions
immediately is found in the fact
that it is not best for us to
have Him settle all questions. He
wants us to wrestle with the
problem ourselves and attempt to
find the solution. This is based
on the sound proposition that it
is not good for anyone to have
someone else do his thinking for
him. God has given us minds, and
He wants us to use them. If He
answered all our prayers, we
would never need to do any
studying or thinking. The Lord
does wish to deprive us of the
opportunity of reaching our own
conclusions, which is a vital
factor in the formation of
character.
Within limits,
children should early be taught
and permitted to make decisions
for themselves. While this can
easily be carried to extreme, as
in ultramodern psychology, the
practice in itself, if kept
within proper bounds, is of
definite value. When parents
insist on making decisions for
their children on every point,
they harm the child. Children
should have increasingly greater
responsibility placed upon them,
should have opportunity to make
decisions for themselves, so that
when they are grown they can take
their place in society fully
competent to order their own
lives.
At times parents
are asked by their children to
help them do their homework. The
children find some problems that
the teachers assigned a little
hard, and they ask for help. It
may be proper to help them, if it
is done judiciously and in
moderation. However, if the
parents habitually worked the
problems for the children, they
would do more harm than good. In
the examination held at school,
such children would be sadly
handicapped, having never had to
work a problem unaided.
If God should
solve all our problems, If He
should answer all our prayers, He
would make the same mistake that
parents do when they work the
problems for their children. God
would ruin us effectively in so
doing. As it is, God let us use
the strength we have, then He
adds whatever we need, and we are
the stronger for it. This is what
Paul meant when he said,
“Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. For it
is God which worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good
pleasure.” Philippians
2:12,13.
Problems
in the Bible
For every
difficulty we solve we will be
stronger and more able to do more
efficient work. If we are to
build character, we must learn to
tackle difficult situations. To
have every prayer answered
promptly would be disastrous for
us. God wants sturdy,
self-reliant men and women. To
develop that kind of people He
gives them opportunity to work
out their own problems as far as
they are able. He will help; He
will give us only as much help as
we need, not necessarily, as much
as we want.
There are problems
in the Bible for which there are
no ready solutions. This is in
accordance with the principles
here discussed. God wants us to
study, to use the mind He has
given us. He has made plain every
great doctrine; all essential
points of faith are clearly and
authoritatively stated. There is
no ambiguity, and hence there is
no excuse for ignorance. However,
there are many questions God
leaves for us to solve. He could
have easily have given us the
solution as well as the problem,
but He chooses not to do so. At
times, we wonder why God did not
do things differently.
To illustrate: The
Bible clearly states that we are
to render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s, and to
God the things that are
God’s. All will agree
that this is a sound principle.
However, the question still
arises? What things are
Caesar’s? What things are
God’s? On this, there is no
agreement among men, and God
gives no definite answer. He
leaves that for us to settle.
Tithing is a plain
Bible requirement. However, what
is tithe? On this point, opinions
vary. Does it mean the gross
income, or are certain exemptions
permissible? In addition, if so,
what? God leaves that question
for us.
The question of
Sabbath keeping is another vital
doctrine. On the seventh day, we
are to rest and not to do any
work. What kind of work is
permitted and counted essential.
What is forbidden? Farmers have
no easy task in determining how
far they may go in doing
essential work on God’s holy
day. Physicians are constantly
confronted with problems relating
to Sabbath observance. Who will
settle them? Housewives,
janitors, and ministers have
their problems in Sabbath
observance. In all these matters,
the individual conscience must
decide. Moreover, God has a
reason for this. The making of
decisions is in itself character
building.
The man who
habitually decides every tithing
question in his favor is not
building character for eternity.
The same is true of those who
decide questions of Sabbath
keeping too liberally, or any
question that God has left for
man’s decision.
Let us not be
discouraged or perplexed when God
does not answer promptly every
question we bring to Him. He is
waiting to see what we will do,
and is giving us an opportunity
to make our own decisions. The
waiting time is a testing time, a
time to search our hearts, to
determine our motives, and to
come to conclusions. In this
work, we may confidently ask
God’s help. He may not solve
every problem for us, we should
not expect Him to, but He can
give hints and suggestions that
will keep us on the right track.
God’s delay
in answering our prayers,
therefore, is for a purpose. To
solve every problem for us would
be disastrous. God is too wise to
do this. He gives us time to
think things through. In our
extremity, He will step in, but
we must use all our resources
first.
Memory Verse:
“If any
man will do his will, he shall
know of the doctrine, whether it
be of God, or whether I speak of
myself.” John 7:17
Questions:
1.
Has God recently tested your
sincerity and earnestness in
prayer? Explain.
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2. Is
it good to wrestle with a problem
and find the solution before
involving God?
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