Unanswered Prayer?

“Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my plea for mercy!  Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked.  For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.’ –Psalm 55:1-3 (ESV).

Many of the Psalms attributed to David are Psalms of lament.  They express our current thoughts and are as timely in relation to situations we face every day. We can find a kindred spirit with his cries to God, for at times we ourselves have felt low, dejected and forsaken. How can we continue to call upon God when our prayers seem to be unanswered?  We can be assured, regardless of whether the expected answer to our prayer comes quickly or not, that we are not forsaken by Almighty God.  He is there to hear even our laments, our complaints and our confessions.  And we can know that He does answer.  It may be “yes” or “no” or “wait awhile.”  Our laments may not be lifted in the way we expect, and even more suffering may attend us before the light of God’s revelation shines through.

In writing an essay on “Unanswered Prayer” Gerald L. Sittser gave  an example familiar to those of us who have kept somewhat abreast of Christian missions and the prices those pay who go to hard places to bear the Good News of Jesus Christ.  The year was 1955, Jim Eliot led a team of missionaries into the jungles of Ecuador to witness to the Auca Indians.  Jim had communicated to his friend, Rev. Bob Mitchell, the president of Young Life, to have Bob and others pray earnestly for the team.  In the letter of request Jim Eliot had urged consistent prayer and said with gladness, “the gospel is creeping a little farther out into this big no-man’s land of Amazonia.”  Jim Eliot urged his friend Bob to pray for the team and that others be enlisted to pray.  Of course Bob Mitchell was faithful in praying.  We know the story. Jim Eliot and four others were murdered by the tribe they had gone to evangelize.  Why were Bob Mitchell’s prayers and those of others unanswered?

Move forward in time.  Years later, Rev. Bob Mitchell was attending a Christian international conference for evangelism in Europe.  An old friend of Bob’s introduced him to a dynamic South American evangelist.  The person was an Auca Indian, one of the very ones who, in 1955, had killed Bob’s friend Jim Eliot and his team.  Because Elisabeth Eliot and others in that team to Amazonia had forgiven the atrocity and pressed on to continue bearing the truth of God’s Word to the Auca, God had been faithful to answer prayers for this Auca man’s salvation—as well as many others in his tribe.  God’s Word and love indeed crept into that ‘no-man’s land.’

I like the quotation by Jean Ingelow who wrote:  “I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.”  We can say that we have also lived to see that God has answered all of our prayers, with a “Yes,” a “No,” a “Wait Awhile”, or a  “God’s Alternative” that is in the plan and will of God and that is far better than we expected or dreamed.

Prayer.  Father, Like David of old, help us to reconsider when we dejectedly think ‘You do not hear us.’  You may have surprises in store for us, blessings that we did not anticipate.  We thank You, assuredly, for answering prayers in your own omniscient manner.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.