Unanswered Prayer

How many times have you used or heard someone use the phrase, “unanswered prayer.” Where did that phrase originate? Not with Jesus. In His teaching on prayer, our Lord never once referred to unanswered prayer. Sometimes the answer is “no” as it was for Jesus when in Gethsemane, He asked the Father to let the Calvary cup pass from His lips. Sometimes God may ask us to wait for a better-timed answer, since His ways and times are not identical to ours. Sometimes, God doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we asked them. But if we pray “in His name and for His sake,” God will answer according to His will, not ours. So, God always answers prayer – even though sometimes different from our chosen response and often delayed according to our calendar. Otherwise, how do you explain, “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9). We’d prefer the Scripture to say, “Ask and it will be given to you exactly as you prefer and precisely on your schedule.” But then we would be conforming God to our image rather than being conformed to His image. So, pray on . . . and wait. God always answers the prayers of His children, even when we do not recognize the answers.

Pray with me this week for the following global concerns:
• Summer English Camps which are held in many countries of the world, directed by missionaries with the assistance of teams of volunteers from the U.S.
• Jim and Charlotte as they begin to research and develop a strategy to reach the Roma (Gypsies) of Brazil.
• Mark and Sharon in England and the new church plant thru Beacon Heath Church.
• Nearly 300 International World Changer (IWC) volunteer teams serving in Romany communities in both Romania and Czech Republic this summer.
• The family, friends, and co-workers of Southern Baptist missionary Theresa, following her death last week in Germany.