Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayer?
Have you ever been discouraged by prayer? Does it feel like God doesn't hear your prayer, or nothing happened after praying diligently? In the Parable of the Persistent Widow, Jesus shares that we shouldn't lose heart when we pray. We outline five ways to build your heart for more effective prayer.
-
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Background of the Parable of the Persistent Widow
Jesus shared the Parable of the Persistent Widow to keep us from becoming discouraged in our prayers. The story features an unjust judge who neither feared God nor respected people. Instead, he cared for nothing, not even his reputation.
Widows at this time were some of the most vulnerable people in society. They had no none to stand up for them. However, judges are supposed to be equalizers.
However, this judge represents none of that and shows no regard for this woman, despite her having an enemy. Luke doesn't devolve the nature of what she's facing, but some form of injustice oppresses her. But this widow would not give up. She kept coming to the judge and made herself a nuisance. Finally, after showing great determination, the judge, in exhaustion, made a judgment in her favor.
The Meaning of the Parable of the Persistent Widow
So, why would Jesus share a parable like this? The answer in verse one is to help us pray and not lose heart.
Have you ever been discouraged in your prayer life? Regardless of how deep our faith is, we all face the vulnerability of losing heart.
"I don't think God is hearing my prayers."
"I prayed, and nothing happened."
"I can't pray without getting distracted and lose focus."
The Lord of the Universe, your Savior, understands your vulnerability when it comes to losing heart in prayer. God, who is absolute and just, shared this parable to encourage you. But how do we build our hearts to have a more effective prayer life and not lose heart?
How to Build Up Your Heart in Effective Prayer
1) Keep Your Heart Aligned With God's Heart
No other point can empower your prayer life more than this one. This is a clear teaching of Scripture.
"If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable." Proverbs 28:9
If we're not interested in the things of God and growing as Christians, nor the revelation of Scripture, then God's telling us He's not interested in listening.
Scripture also teaches the importance of turning from our sins. A sinful lifestyle negatively impacts your prayer life. Psalms 66 says, "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened."
That phrase, "cherished iniquity," is not a reference to a Christian who stumbles in sin occasionally. Instead, this is pointed at someone who is holding on to sin. They know it's a sin, but they refuse the Lord to invade that part of their being and cherish their sin patterns. Meanwhile, they still profess faith in Jesus.
The Hebrew of this passage can be translated in a few ways. The NASB translates it to, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear." (emphasis added).
When we hear the term "wicked," our mind goes to extreme evil, such as Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. However, we must recognize the root word of "wicked" is wick, like a candle wick. How do you make a candle wick? You dip it in wax and twist the string to form the wick. The picture of wickedness is a person who takes the clear teaching of Scripture, the truth of God, and twists it.
The Lord tells us that He will always love us, but to live an empowered prayer life, there are conditions where He's not listening.
Prayers that are powerful and effective come from righteous people, but what's important to note is being a righteous person is not attainable. God would never make that attainable. We can't have righteousness on our own. However, we can have it through what Jesus Chris did on the cross. It's attainable through grace and Christ's work to transform our lives.
"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 1 Peter 3:12
Keeping your heart aligned with God may seem insurmountable, but I want to encourage you never to despise a small beginning. The first step is always to start where you are and trust God.
2) Feed Your Prayer Life with Scripture
The lack of Scriptural knowledge has done more damage to prayer than anything in the mainline church. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
Just as we would eat three meals a day, a follower of Jesus intends that we're regularly taking nourishment from Scripture. Weakness in Scripture-informed prayer fuels anemia in prayer.
You may be reading this and thinking, "Yeah, but you're a pastor. You're different because you do this full-time; you're in the religious business." However, I'd submit I'm a human, and I have my mornings where I wake up discouraged and overwhelmed by the day's concerns.
“Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little.”
What's helped me is I get out of bed, eat breakfast, have some coffee, then spend an hour or so with the Lord. I read Scripture and pray. Scripture feeds my prayer life and nourishes my soul. God is for me, not against me, and the Bible tells us there's no condemnation for those in Christ.
We're to cast our anxieties upon the Lord because He cares for us. We're called to seek His Kingdom first because Jesus declared that our anxieties and concerns would take care of themselves. Our prayer lives are fed through Scripture, informing us who God is and what He does.
3) Trust in God's Timing, Not Yours
How many times have we prayed and pleaded with God around a matter that seemed like He wasn't answering?
When you're in a restaurant and place your order, the food doesn't instantly appear before you. However, behind the kitchen door, there are processes and preparations. Prayer is the same way. God is putting things into motion when we pray. In that process, He's also honoring human free will as it interacts with His work.
In Western culture, we've been conditioned to take out our phones, tap an app and have instantaneous responses. Likewise, the microwave has conditioned us to have a readymade meal in seconds and expect the same for our prayer life. However, prayer is much more like a crockpot taking hours of simmering.
4) Pray From a Heart of White-Hot Passion
"The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) is able to accomplish much." James 5:16 (AMP)
We're not talking about personality types because some people are more passionate than others. Some people are more easily energized in their response, but that's not what God's talking about here.
Prayer is not merely cognitive; it's the passion that comes from "love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, and soul." Additionally, when we pray with our hearts, it is connected to our thoughts, so pray with zeal, faith, and fervor.
5) Know That God Has More Invested In Outcomes Than You
In reviewing our passage, the word "Justice" appears eight times, which is highly encouraging. It's there to remind us that God has more invested in it to make things right than we do.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letters from the Birmingham Jail that injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere. When we're aware that God has more invested in outcomes than us, we need to be mindful that our prayers, as Christians, should be directed towards the oppressed. We need to regularly pray for the trafficked, orphaned, and widowed and for the greatest level of social justice, which is gospel justice.
The lesson of the unjust judge is one of contrasts. If an unjust judge would answer the request of an unconnected widow, how much more will a loving, righteous, generous God hear the prayers of his chosen ones. God is our heavenly Father. We are not coming before a tyrant; We are coming before a friend.
When Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened," He reminded the fathers listening to Him that they know how to give good gifts to their children. How much more does God love to bestow the Holy Spirit on those who ask?
Don't Let Fear Paralyze You From Prayer
“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”
Fear can paralyze us. When we are ashamed, it can prevent us from moving with the Spirit. For some, even talking about prayer may paralyze you. We might be afraid to experience what we may feel if we devote our hearts to prayer. We may be afraid of what God might want to build within us. Jesus went to the cross to bear your sins so that you wouldn't have to move in fear.
As you finish reading, I invite you to take 60 seconds of silence before moving on. Sit in the still and converse with God. If you're unsure where to start, here are a few suggestions:
Align your heart
Develop your faith
Confess a sin
Surrender a circumstance
A more profound yearning for Scripture
Sit in silence and see where God takes you, and after you're finished, if you would like someone at Christ Church to pray for or with you, please fill out our Prayer Request Form.
TL;DR
Jesus shares the Parable of the Persistent Widow to encourage us not to lose heart when praying.
How to Build Your Heart in Effective Prayer
Keep your heart aligned with God
Feed your prayer life with Scripture
Trust God's timing, not yours
Pray with a white-hot passion
Know God is more invested in outcomes than you
Related Reading
Three Keys to a Better Prayer Life by Rev. Paul Lawler
Why Prayer Works by Bro. Chris Carter
Have You Prayed About It? by Mike Weaver
