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In contrast, the God of the Bible announces Himself as the God who hears and answers prayer. At the dedication of the Temple by King Solomon, God tells the king, "If My people . . . pray . . . I will hear" (II Chronicles 7:14). God granted Israel's prayers many times in the Old Testament, sending rain to end droughts and bringing deliverance from overwhelming enemy forces. He was actively, openly involved in the life of His people, granting their requests or sending word by a prophet to tell them why He did not do so.
The same sort of promise is repeated by the Psalmist: "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). The psalmist seems to announce that the person who sincerely follows the Lord will have desires in tune with eternity and will therefore pray for things that will be granted.
In the teachings of Jesus, the promise is repeated and amplified. In Matthew 7.7, we are told, "Ask and it will be given to you." In John 14:14, Jesus says, "You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it."
From these lavish promises it is a wrenching jolt to descend to reality as most of us live it. God seems to send miracles quite regularly in Indonesia and Zululand, but in our part of the world His overt interventions are much less frequent. Of course, He could make His wonder-working power visible here if He chose; but, for the most part, we are left to obey the Word and wait for "faith to become sight" when we enter eternity. Every illness, every deathbed, every unpleasant reality we face is a monument to prayer ungranted.
If we look at the biblical record, we see that, even there, many requests were refused. King David, called "a man after God's own heart", was not permitted to oversee the building of the Temple even though this was assuredly his fondest desire. The Most High told him he would not be allowed to erect the Temple because he had been "a man of war" (I Chronicles 28:3). Even though the battles were in the interest of God's people and, in some cases, directly ordered by the Almighty, they yet rendered David unfit to build the House of God. His prayer was refused.
Jeremiah, the "weeping prophet", is another case of prayer denied. In spite of his earnest entreaties, the people to whom he preached would not repent of their sin. Instead, not liking the message, they took it out on the messenger, casting Jeremiah into a dungeon (Jeremiah 38:6). God delivered him from that hole (38:11-13), but the people were taken away into captivity because of their sin. Jeremiah's petitions thus joined the fellowship of the declined.
If we consider the New Testament, what shall we think of the martyred apostles? Surely the church prayed for their release. In the case of Peter, their request was realized, and an angel came to set him free from the jail where Herod had imprisoned him. When he showed up at the prayer meeting where the Christians were interceding for him, at first they could not believe it was he. Their case seems to be one of God granting what they asked in spite of their unbelief.
The apostle Paul was a man of prayer, saying many times in his letters that he prayed for the churches, asking for their growth and good. The divine power that rested in him was so great that God did miracles even through "handkerchiefs and aprons" that had been on his person (Acts 19:11-13). Yet when he asked that his "thorn in the flesh" be removed, he was turned down. A thing regarding which he "pleaded with the Lord" three times (II Corinthians 12:8) did not come to be.
Chapter 11 of Hebrews is called "the faith chapter", telling of God's marvellous interventions in the lives of His followers. Yet in that gallery of the heroes of faith, we also find the portraits of others who "were tortured . . . faced jeers and flogging . . . were chained and put in prison . . . were sawed in two...were put to death by the sword . . . . These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what was promised" (Hebrews 11:35-39). They won divine approval in spite of the fact their prayers were not granted. These verses constitute the refutation of any who say the believer has only to claim what he/she wants in order to obtain it.
There is holier ground still to be explored in this question. God saw the petitions of His Son as He looked toward Calvary and prayed, "If it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me" (Matthew 26:39). The request Christ made in the anguish of His soul was refused, sending Him to the cross. The perfect Petitioner had His agonized plea turned down because it was the Father's will that He be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.
It is therefore certain that, whatever the promise "You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it" means, it does not mean that we have in God a sugar daddy who accords all our wishes. The Kingdom of God is not set up merely to fulfill the wildest fantasies of its children. We may be "King's kids", but that does not mean that we have a blank cheque on the royal treasury. Indeed, the King also calls us to be servants and soldiers, and that involves doing His bidding. It may even mean laying down our lives for His sake and the gospel's, engaging in dark and desperate battles far from the light, perceiving only as an act of deliberate faith the hosannas of heaven's hosts cheering us on and promising to receive us at the end.
Thus we come to the difference between answered prayer and granted prayer. We cannot think that the One who knows all is unaware of any petition that rises to His throne. Prayer must always be answered, but the answer in many cases is "No" or "Not yet". If the answer is "Yes", we know that our prayers have been heard. But the refusal of prayer is not usually marked in such a way that we can see it. Paul knew that his prayer had been denied; furthermore, God told him why it could not be accorded (II Corinthians 12:8). But only occasionally does God tell His petitioner this information--only this one case in the entire biblical record.
Indeed, if we think of our creaturely ignorance when we pray, we must see that God knows better than we. Often we ask for things that would harm us or others if we had them. Once we realize our condition as children of the heavenly Father, the question becomes not why our prayers are so often refused, but rather why the opposite is so emphatically promised.
When God's answer is "Yes", it is visible before us. When the answer is "No", we "walk by faith and not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7). Having prayers granted is therefore no sign of particular divine favour. Indeed, it may be a sign of weakness. Were we stronger, we might be sent to more terrible duties in the front lines of the conflict of the ages where His special interventions are not the order of the day, to resist the enemy in spite of the silence of the heavens.
We must not assume that the trials of another are divine judgement. Like other Christians, we must be aware that our prayers are always answered, even when they are not granted.
Ron Carleton is a freelance writer from Abbotsford, B.C. and a member of Northview Community Church.
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