I think it actually pleases God if you explain your frustration (politely, as a matter-of-fact-ly, no bad-mouthing or complaining) about Him to Him.
Recently I had yet another unanswered prayer. I thought God was telling me that He wanted me to travel to Washington DC for a revival meeting, and impressed upon me that I can look up to Him for the plane ticket and other expenses.
So I told my prayer partner about this and asked him to pray with me for this and together look up to God for the money for the trip.
Days passed, the revival meeting was underway, but no plane ticket, no money from any source.
Just last night I read the testimony of George Muller (1805-1898) and he explained how he wanted to demonstrate the power and faithfulness of God, by running an orphanage without any fund raise but simply by trusting God to provide for the expense, and if you read his biography, you know he did it.
Today, his charity fund is still vibrant and actively supporting missionaries.
I want to live this kind of life too. So I confronted God, and asked Him why He didn’t answer our prayer and provide for our travel expense to Washington DC.
I will probably get an answer for Him later, but folks, I encourage you to do the same thing. Don’t let any unanswered prayer go without seeking God and asking Him to reveal to you fully the reason why.
Maybe God has something better in store for you. Maybe you did something wrong. Maybe your prayer life is feeble. It’s better to know than to be ignorant.
How many unanswered prayers have you been hiding in the closet?
So did God really tell me to go to Washington DC? Did I mishear him? If so, God, how can I listen better next time?
Get into the detail. Be meticulous. Don’t let things go.
I am sure this is how godly men become godly. They don’t assume things. If things aren’t right, they don’t pretend it’s okay and try to find some excuses for God. God doesn’t need our feeble excuses.
In later posts, I am going to share some bible verses that further explain the lesson in this post.
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Tags: Discernment, prayer
Because you asked for your benefit. George Muller asked for others. Jesus washed feet though he was the Son of God, a humble servant of others.
Dear Robert, most of my unanswered prayers were spiritual things and things that benefit others.
So on which post did you read that I ask for my benefit and pray a self-serving prayer?
George Muller asked and he received what he and his family needed, regularly. So did he not ask for his benefit?
Only later did he think about starting orphanage and magnified what he already had been doing, i.e., to fully rely on God to provide. And God did.
Also, the problem with many people is that, when they don’t get their prayer answered, they made things up for others and themselves. God doesn’t need us to make up excuses for Him.
Robert, are you really sure you know why God didn’t answer my prayer? Many people gave advice out of good intention, but their advice came from their own wisdom, as a result, the church is weakened by human-invented reasons and doctrines.
A good example is the book of Job. Job was attacked by Satan so he lost everything, but his godly friends rebuked Job and made up crimes and accusation for Job and explained God punished him because of those unexist crimes. At the end God rebuke those friends.