Unanswered Prayer
Why does God answer some small prayers (e.g. finding a car park) and not the bigger prayers (e.g healing someone who is sick) when we know that he can? ~ Tamika
When we pray for the sick and God doesn’t heal, is it because we lack faith? ~ Anonymous
Dear Tamika and Anon, thanks for sending in these questions about prayer!
It’s mysterious to me why God chooses to grant some of our requests and not others - especially when it seems so obvious that to do so would be good. For example, I can’t help but think it would have been good for my three siblings and I to have had our Mum with us growing up, but the many requests for her cancer to be healed weren’t granted.
Because I don’t know why this is, I find it helpful to remember what I do know…
I know that God loves me and cares deeply about every detail of my life.
I know that he hears every one of my prayers - both great and small.
I know that he is weaving together a redemptive plan for the universe that includes every detail of human history - even the horrible stuff.
Tamika, I’ve had the joy of seeing a number of people healed through prayer when there seemed no hope for healing. I’ve seen doctors baffled and families filled with awe at God’s power. God does heal in response to prayer, but sadly (for both God and us) living in a fallen world brings with it inevitable tragedy.
Anon, there are many reasons why God doesn’t heal when we pray. It might be because our prayers don’t align with his will (1 John 5:14-15).
It could also be that God is more committed to growing us than healing us. Remember the experience of Paul? He was afflicted by something he called ‘a thorn in the flesh’, and he pleaded with God three times to remove it. Instead, God simply said: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor. 12:6-10)
I think the way to live faithfully in the midst of this fallen world is to acknowledge that we will suffer sickness and death, to remember that none of this can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39), and to continue to pray for all of our needs, trusting in his wise and perfect plan.
~ Love, JS
