Demanding Answers to Prayer

Unanswered prayers are a hallmark of the struggle of faith.  Whether it is a moment when we simply want things to go our way or we are in deep crisis and want God to dig us out… if it feels like the answer we most want is a long time coming, we can struggle in our faith toward God and God’s care.

There are some responses to this that we must be wary of.  The first is a need to defend God, that is to make up excuses for the lack of an answer that satisfies us.  The second is to simply take over, to demand the answer by using the tools at hand.  This second is of real importance today because it is so easy for us in our time to take hold of these tools and to wield them.  That’s because they make us feel like we are wielding the power of God.

The Psalmist reminds us of this…

I lift my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

For a little time, this was translated as if it was from the hills that my help came, which makes sense.  Higher ground is a tool of warfare.  If the enemy is below us, they are in a weaker position.  But the writer is reminding himself or herself, that it is not through the answers this world provides that I will find safety.  It is only from the Lord.  The entire psalm is an expression of this foundational truth.

But today we are looking to wield the power of God through three primary tools…Money, Politics and Weapons.  These are the “hills” we are looking toward for help. We are taking the matter into our own hands because we aren’t finding God to be timely.  Instead of pouring our lives into living as God has called us to do, we are demanding an answer and we’re demanding it now.

It takes too long, too much time and energy and too much of taking the focus off our on desires in life, to live out the experience of God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.  So, we turn our focus on what will make things change, give us assurance of being right and make us feel secure.  We turn to what we can do with the tools at hand.  We demand an answer to unanswered prayers because we will not give our lives over into the change, assurance and security God provides.

As an evangelical, I am ashamed, disheartened and even disgusted at what I see, and the claims I hear which reveal that we are looking to “the hills” to provide our help instead of God.  As I look at where we are, I hear Jesus saying,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”  Matthew 7:21-23

Blessings,Geoff