“I’ve prayed and prayed, and God doesn’t answer.” How many times have I heard that from frustrated people? I have voiced the same complaint. Faith and hope beckon to me with peaceful smiles on one side of an abyss while on the other side, disappointment sighs and resentment scowls.
Whether it's life in general or high hopes for my writing,
How am I supposed to avoid so much negativity and lean toward faith’s glorious promises in the midst of unanswered prayers?
The Bible instructs us to pray believing. For someone’s salvation, for the basics necessary to life, for healing. And yes, for my ability to write something others will want to read, something worth sharing. Something God considers worthy of sharing with the world. If I am to pray believing, then I am to be expectant each day. This may be the day! And if God does not answer this day with “yes,” then I am to carry on peacefully and joyfully, persisting into tomorrow with the same prayer.
What about the complaint that I opened with?
If God promises to answer our prayers, if He promises to give us the desires of our hearts, especially if we desire the salvation of someone, why doesn’t He? Is it His fault – does He not keep His promises? I can think of three possible answers, and I’m sure there are several more.
1. One of God’s promises regarding answered prayers comes from Psalm 37:4. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Ah, there’s a condition attached to that promise. Is Jesus my delight? Is joy and peace in Christ a way of life for me? Or do I run to Him with my petitions when I need help but otherwise don’t give Him a whole lot of thought?
Evaluation Question 1: Do I really delight in God’s presence in my life every day? Am I writing for an audience of One? If the answer is no, God has no obligation to answer my prayers. He often does anyway, but He doesn’t have to.
2. God also promises to say yes if you pray in the name of Jesus (John 14:13-14). However, that’s not a magic formula. “In the name of Jesus” and “Abracadabra” are not synonyms. “In the name of Jesus” indicates that I know He has all the authority, and I have none. He has all the wealth and power and knowledge in the universe and beyond. I am weak and penniless and ignorant by eternal standards. When I come to Him with my requests, I must acknowledge that my own account is worthless, which means my writing is worthless without His influence upon it.
Evaluation Question 2: Do I realize that I’m asking God to benefit me with funds from His bank, that I have no riches of my own, no writing talent of my own other than what He chooses to give me?
3. Give it time, more than you want to give. So many of our prayers hinge on someone else’s will. Are you praying for a loved one's salvation? That person may not yet be ready to surrender to Christ. God will not override your loved one's choices. Otherwise, humans would be robots. But He does know how to bring someone around to His way of thinking. Let Him work it out. Are you praying an agent will love your book's premise and respond with a request for a full manuscript from your query? God won't override the agent's reaction either, but with each negative response, He can teach you how to improve the book and/or the query letter until one day the polished work lands in the prayed-for agent's inbox, and a contract is born!
Evaluation Question #3: Am I willing to give God as much time as He needs to put everything in place so my prayer will be answered? Am I willing to persevere? If the answer is “no,” if I’m not willing to keep praying–for decades if that’s what it takes--then how much do I really care?
Perseverance
Don’t think I’m a pointing a finger at you. I’ve had to ask myself the same questions.
I have spent seven years polishing my middle grade series. In that time, I've received encouraging rejections and endured a disappointing stint with an agent. This year at the ACFW conference, all the pieces fell into place, and my prayer has been answered! I've begun the steep learning curve of launching a book. (Anyone who wants to help spread the word, let me know!) What a big, wonderful "YES!" from the Lord!
Apparently, the person I'm praying for is extremely stubborn, which discourages me. Then I remind myself: God is God, and I am not. I return to my knees, and when I rise to my feet, my peaceful heart is ready to move on with the tasks of the day.
Whether your prayers focus on your writing or your loved ones, you can also surrender them all to God and move through the day filled with peace.
And maybe today is the day when Jesus says, “Yes.”
Linda had always figured she’d teach middle-graders until school authorities presented her with a retirement wheelchair at the overripe age of eighty-five. However, God changed those plans when He gave her a growing passion for writing fiction. In May of 2016, she blew goodbye kisses to her students and dedicated her work hours to learning the craft.
A wife, mother of three, and grandmother to eight, Linda regales the youngest grandchildren with “Nona Stories,” tales of her childhood. Maybe one day those stories will be in picture books!
Where Linda can be found on the web:
www.facebook.com/lindasammaritan
www.twitter.com/LindaSammaritan
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