Are prayers answered? For most of my life, my answer was, “No!”. For many of my friends, their answer is, “No”. One made this clear. When I told him I would pray for him, he responded, “Knock yourself out!”. Others are less adamant but make it clear that they would be much happier if I offered them something “real” like my best wishes. Rather than offer prayer to others, many choose to offer their vibes. Why is prayer so discounted?
In John 14: 13-14, Jesus promises to do for us whatever we ask, but I could find no evidence that my prayers for myself, or others, were answered. Surely, I would know if mine were. Certainly, if others discovered my prayers for them had been answered, I would have heard from at least some of them. Is Jesus not keeping His promise?
In my puzzlement, I reread what He was reported to have said. I finally saw that He had qualified His promise. He promised to do whatever we asked “… in His name”. What might He have meant by this? Might He have meant “consistent with His will”? In Matt 6: 7-15, Jesus teaches us to not pray for what we think we, or others, need because God knows what we need before we ask. Should the “daily bread” we ask for, be for what God knows is best for us? Might that be a prayer that is always answered?
Maybe, but if God will do what is best for us, why do we need to pray? Might God want us
to be part of doing His will? Because God will not impose His will on us, might we need to pray to express our willingness to partner with God? Several years ago, I was introduced to a movement called For the Love of God Worldwide. Among other things, it taught me a prayer I use to express that willingness.
"God, I offer you this day my free will. Please unite it with Your divine will. Show we what you would have me do this day and then help me, my dear beloved Father, to accomplish it."
Might similar prayers be always answered?
As well, Jesus teaches us to pray for forgiveness of our debts. How does that apply to those of us who haven’t (recently) done anything wrong? Might our debts be our sin in failing to do God’s will? In my case, I fail to do God’s will daily (or more often). Despite not intending to, I act unlovingly to those with whom I interact. My daily prayer asks God to show His forgiveness by helping me overcome this inherent weakness of mine.
"God, please help me to overcome the impediments to my selfless and unconditional love – my impatience, my judgementalism, my defensiveness and my self-centredness."
Might such a prayer be one that is always answered (despite my repeated failure to apply His help)?
The moral of several of Aesop’s Fables is, “Be careful what you wish for.” Might this be true of prayer? Might prayers for what God knows is best for us, for His help to accomplish His will, and for forgiveness for the times that we fail to selflessly and unconditionally love, be those that are always answered?
Del H. Smith conducts research into life’s meaning and is the award-winning author
of the Amazon Best Seller, Discovering Life’s Purpose.