How do you personally handle unanswered prayer?

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Pisteuo

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Unanswered prayers are surely prayers not asked from the correct perspective, yeh? So iow an opp to change our minds where prayers are concerned. Easy to expect God to be santa claus imo
Yep.

I'm sure it's been quoted here already but 1 John 5:14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

I get caught feeling like my will is Gods will and I know the best resolution and can't grasp why God doesn't see that too. But I know God is always good and always right and I am not. So somewhere I am missing something but God sees it all.
 

Soverign Grace

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We are in an un just world and are expected to live among them, and even pray for and bless our enemies. It has been several months now that I have been asking God to give me the power to forgive a certain person (a so called Christian at that) that did me very wrong. It's not here yet but, I will continue to pray for the gift of forgiveness for her.
Trials and tribs folks! He is molding and shaping us into the likeness of Christ. I was never a big "grudge holder" but this is a tough one for me yet...God knows I want to forgive. I did all I was supposed to do according to what the bible say's to do...go to the person, if they will not hear or repent (or return many stolen items!) then take it to the Church...I took it to the pastor and he could hardly care less :(
We need to strive to let these things go because it will give us ulcers!
@Soverign Grace , I know your story about the Church folk and the horrible things they did...them being "Christians" makes it even worse! We might never get to see the justice God will demand of them but, be assured...He will!
xo

I remember an old saint telling me it sometimes hurt to be changed into His image.

This act was overtly evil and the very trees are crying out for judgment so I don't get it. It's like God is okay with grave injustice. Then there is another issue where I'm living with very severe consequences of another's mistake. Even if it was just a one time act of injustice you could forgive more easily, but when you're suffering day in day out, moment after moment then injustice is near impossible to live with. When you see the wicked prosper while you're wondering how you're going to make it then that's when the rubber really hits the road with God. I really hope and pray that He shows me - and all of us - what He has in mind for us to learn.

I appreciate your responses Nancy - you have a caring heart:)
 
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Nancy

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I remember an old saint telling me it sometimes hurt to be changed into His image.

This act was overtly evil and the very trees are crying out for judgment so I don't get it. It's like God is okay with grave injustice. Then there is another issue where I'm living with very severe consequences of another's mistake. Even if it was just a one time act of injustice you could forgive more easily, but when you're suffering day in day out, moment after moment then injustice is near impossible to live with. When you see the wicked prosper while you're wondering how you're going to make it then that's when the rubber really hits the road with God. I really hope and pray that He shows me - and all of us - what He has in mind for us to learn.

I appreciate your responses Nancy - you have a caring heart:)

Kind of you to say, yet I see myself as a doormat sometimes when I think I can trust someone...like yourself, the last person has caused me to lose $650.00 a month because of her selfishness. I allowed her to stay in my upstairs for only 300 bucks a month, including EVERYTHING! She totally used me, lied and stole and then only 3 days after I purchased a new vehicle...depending on her rent for the payment she said "I know this is bad timing, but can Mark (her 30 yr. old teenager :rolleyes: , who spent 5 years in prison for shaking his baby so bad that the kid will never be right again, and he is very unstable (as is she) (reason it was bad timing was that I took in my best friend who has dementia for 5 months...and it was Hell on me...she never helped with a single thing, ever!) just always had her hand out all the time. I said I'm sorry but, I cannot have that. So, she decides that she would have to move out because, get this: "He needs to grow up" was the reason she wanted him to live here, and get THIS- this was the very reason she moved in!!!! o_O She herself hasn't grown up. She did me so bad, now I am stuck with a new car payment at 350 a month and I do not have her rent to cover. Never gave me notice, stayed here for half the following month and did not even offer me a penny. And, that was the month of my first payment on the vehicle! Yeah, she did me bad pretty much the whole time she was here. NEVER ONCE emptied the garbage, left her dirty dishes in the sink, not even rinsing them...and the one thing I told her before moving in is that I do NOT want to wake up to dirty dishes in the sink! Never once helped me shovel, mow, or ANYTHING...her body is whole...I have had 6 surgeries, 3 on my back...she could care less. Okay...I could go on but I feel my BP rising so I better stop! lol....
 

CharismaticLady

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I have seen several amazing prayers answered so I know without a doubt that God hears. Yet there are prayers that have gone unanswered that deeply trouble me. I pray and pray and nothing changes / I get no inner peach about specific things and I search for why yet cannot get to a place of peace about certain unanswered prayers.

There was a lawyer in our town who claimed to be a Christian. He was a hypocrite and felt that he was entitled to trash others' family members. What is so egregious is that his own son was the town drug dealer. The lawyer represented all the teens in town who got caught with the drugs that his son sold to them...and of course you know that his son was never caught...or he was caught and it was fixed by his daddy and uncle (who was a judge.) If anyone said anything to the father about his drug-dealing son he would threaten and bully them legally since he's well-connected, has a big office and employs many other lawyers.

The drug-dealing son went on to become a lawyer after ruining lives. He and his father are very wealthy and keep expanding offices - and they made their money dishonestly by ruining lives.

All throughout the Bible we're told that God is a God of Justice yet I look around and see very little of it. When I pray I tell God that He put a sense of Justice within us yet we're forced to look on iniquity day after day after day and I often feel like Habakuk. What is really hard is that the above lawyer stole from me with the assistance of corrupt lawyer who works in the probate office. I contacted all the people within the system and they all circled the wagons around the corrupt probate lawyer. Not one would help. So the corrupt lawyer is basically being helped to steal with the blessing of the entire probate office staff. And the lawyer calls himself a Christian.

I've brought this to God and nothing has changed. I prayed and yet do not see justice even though it is promised in Scripture. Why would God place a strong desire for justice and fairness within our hearts only to be frustrated when we're denied it?

What do others do when Scripture is crystal clear and yet we see the exact opposite happen?

I was in a situation where I thought I might lose my job because of my boss. I went to bed and cried out to God and said I needed a Word from him. I opened my Bible to Psalms 37 and read the whole thing. It gave me peace. I went in the next day expecting to be fired, and my boss wasn't there. He had been fired. Maybe Psalms 37 can give someone else peace.
 

bbyrd009

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Yep.

I'm sure it's been quoted here already but 1 John 5:14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

I get caught feeling like my will is Gods will and I know the best resolution and can't grasp why God doesn't see that too. But I know God is always good and always right and I am not. So somewhere I am missing something but God sees it all.
How bout the apparent oxymoron there between v14 and 15? “You have to be asking in his will for him To hear you, and get what you want; but he hears you and you can ask for whatever you want” so to speak.
 
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bbyrd009

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I’d like to suggest there is no such thing as Unanswered prayer; And that we will likely get an answer contained in a situation that will quickly be forthcoming, if we have the ears to hear it. But most likely it won’t be a pleasant lesson
 
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Soverign Grace

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Kind of you to say, yet I see myself as a doormat sometimes when I think I can trust someone...like yourself, the last person has caused me to lose $650.00 a month because of her selfishness. I allowed her to stay in my upstairs for only 300 bucks a month, including EVERYTHING! She totally used me, lied and stole and then only 3 days after I purchased a new vehicle...depending on her rent for the payment she said "I know this is bad timing, but can Mark (her 30 yr. old teenager :rolleyes: , who spent 5 years in prison for shaking his baby so bad that the kid will never be right again, and he is very unstable (as is she) (reason it was bad timing was that I took in my best friend who has dementia for 5 months...and it was Hell on me...she never helped with a single thing, ever!) just always had her hand out all the time. I said I'm sorry but, I cannot have that. So, she decides that she would have to move out because, get this: "He needs to grow up" was the reason she wanted him to live here, and get THIS- this was the very reason she moved in!!!! o_O She herself hasn't grown up. She did me so bad, now I am stuck with a new car payment at 350 a month and I do not have her rent to cover. Never gave me notice, stayed here for half the following month and did not even offer me a penny. And, that was the month of my first payment on the vehicle! Yeah, she did me bad pretty much the whole time she was here. NEVER ONCE emptied the garbage, left her dirty dishes in the sink, not even rinsing them...and the one thing I told her before moving in is that I do NOT want to wake up to dirty dishes in the sink! Never once helped me shovel, mow, or ANYTHING...her body is whole...I have had 6 surgeries, 3 on my back...she could care less. Okay...I could go on but I feel my BP rising so I better stop! lol....

That amount is unheard of for rent! She kicked a gift horse in the mouth!

Unfortunately there are those who are intuitive that can sense when someone is caring and exploit that. I've had to become assertive because there are those who will bury you and not think twice. People like you have to be extra cautious because users seem to have a 6th sense when it comes to finding victims unfortunately.

I hope you can find another renter - someone responsible. Maybe if you got the word out at church. One of my family members rented a place for an exorbitant amount. The landlord was staring in the windows which was unnerving. He used them to get his work done on the place because they were young and he could manipulate them - then he kept their security deposit. I wanted to fight it but they wouldn't.

There's always the possibility of pursuing your tenant in court. You don't need a lawyer. Money has always come hard to me and it hurts to lose it.
 
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Soverign Grace

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I was in a situation where I thought I might lose my job because of my boss. I went to bed and cried out to God and said I needed a Word from him. I opened my Bible to Psalms 37 and read the whole thing. It gave me peace. I went in the next day expecting to be fired, and my boss wasn't there. He had been fired. Maybe Psalms 37 can give someone else peace.

I love stories like yours - I wish things always worked that way. I dealt with a corrupt principal one time and prayed for his removal and he was fired. I was cheated by lawyers and just recently read that they're getting sued. So sometimes God does show us - other times He seems to let us stew and I don't understand why. I try to figure out what He may yet want from me. That's where I'm at now.

You were very lucky.
 

CharismaticLady

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I love stories like yours - I wish things always worked that way. I dealt with a corrupt principal one time and prayed for his removal and he was fired. I was cheated by lawyers and just recently read that they're getting sued. So sometimes God does show us - other times He seems to let us stew and I don't understand why. I try to figure out what He may yet want from me. That's where I'm at now.

You were very lucky.

"Luck" had nothing to do with it. ;)
 

Truth

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I have seen several amazing prayers answered so I know without a doubt that God hears. Yet there are prayers that have gone unanswered that deeply trouble me. I pray and pray and nothing changes / I get no inner peach about specific things and I search for why yet cannot get to a place of peace about certain unanswered prayers.

There was a lawyer in our town who claimed to be a Christian. He was a hypocrite and felt that he was entitled to trash others' family members. What is so egregious is that his own son was the town drug dealer. The lawyer represented all the teens in town who got caught with the drugs that his son sold to them...and of course you know that his son was never caught...or he was caught and it was fixed by his daddy and uncle (who was a judge.) If anyone said anything to the father about his drug-dealing son he would threaten and bully them legally since he's well-connected, has a big office and employs many other lawyers.

The drug-dealing son went on to become a lawyer after ruining lives. He and his father are very wealthy and keep expanding offices - and they made their money dishonestly by ruining lives.

All throughout the Bible we're told that God is a God of Justice yet I look around and see very little of it. When I pray I tell God that He put a sense of Justice within us yet we're forced to look on iniquity day after day after day and I often feel like Habakuk. What is really hard is that the above lawyer stole from me with the assistance of corrupt lawyer who works in the probate office. I contacted all the people within the system and they all circled the wagons around the corrupt probate lawyer. Not one would help. So the corrupt lawyer is basically being helped to steal with the blessing of the entire probate office staff. And the lawyer calls himself a Christian.

I've brought this to God and nothing has changed. I prayed and yet do not see justice even though it is promised in Scripture. Why would God place a strong desire for justice and fairness within our hearts only to be frustrated when we're denied it?

What do others do when Scripture is crystal clear and yet we see the exact opposite happen?

DO NOT be dismayed when you see Evil Prosper, those that bow the knee to Satan are rewarded in this temporal world!!!
BUT! Justice will be put forth, Consider the Souls that cry out from under the Alter, when will you avenge us. God is not and will not be Slack concerning HIS Judgement!
I have been praying that God would reveille the intent of the wicked people in our Government, and expose them, for the common people to see, and understand that they are just trying to enslave us and destroy God from the minds of all people, and that is yet to come to past!
 

Nancy

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That amount is unheard of for rent! She kicked a gift horse in the mouth!

Unfortunately there are those who are intuitive that can sense when someone is caring and exploit that. I've had to become assertive because there are those who will bury you and not think twice. People like you have to be extra cautious because users seem to have a 6th sense when it comes to finding victims unfortunately.

I hope you can find another renter - someone responsible. Maybe if you got the word out at church. One of my family members rented a place for an exorbitant amount. The landlord was staring in the windows which was unnerving. He used them to get his work done on the place because they were young and he could manipulate them - then he kept their security deposit. I wanted to fight it but they wouldn't.

There's always the possibility of pursuing your tenant in court. You don't need a lawyer. Money has always come hard to me and it hurts to lose it.

Thanks S.G.,
Yes, people see me coming...I must have a "PLEASE USE ME" sign on my back lol. But, I am becoming much more assertive and I did have red flags the moment I met her but did not want to pre-judge her, she still attends my old Church and is using any and everybody. Yes, she sure did kick a gift horse in the mouth. The only reason I only charged her 300 is because she is on SSI (how she got it, I have no idea) and only takes in about 800 per month...but she got food stamps. First day she was trying to get me to give her money in exchange for her food stamps!!! I immediately said no. There is so much more to what she did to me and did NOT do for me when I was non weight bearing on one of my feet after surgery. Would not even walk my dogs for me! She said, "it's not my thing"!!! Nice coming from a "sister" in Christ, huh? Had to pay a couple kids from the Church to do it and, they were supposed to keep them out there for an hour...kept bringing them back within half an hour, then 20 minutes! Also had to pay someone to cut my grass because she is extremely lazy...I could go on and on but, would do no good, only get my dander up again, ha! Don't want anybody here anymore, just me and my dogs...I trust God for everything I need and He is faithful. "Trust no man" (or woman!) even if they are claiming Christianity.
Yes, I think your family member should have perused and fought to get back their sec. dep.
It would be a waste of time to take her to court, how can I prove anything? Not to mention, she does not have any money to pay! The things she took were worth a good amount of money but...I know God will hold her accountable. Even more than the monetary things, she took 3-4 of my packed boxes in my one crawl space upstairs. I do not remember what was in there but I am sure I had personal info in there and pray to God that neither she or her son will take advantage of any info...and worse yet, I KNOW I had pictures in there that I will never again see!
I'm pretty sure she is way sorry she moved out because she got screwed over when her son decided to not move in with her, ha! Her rent is over 800 so...I don't know who she might have living there with her. She always said that "I'm never leaving here" (my house) she knew she had it good here and will never find that cheap a place out there. So, I believe it all backfired on her. I don't even want to know how bad a time she is having now because I do not want to take pleasure in her downfall. And, she will fall. And, yes, money always came hard for me too but God saw fit to see that I got compensation from injuries incurred in the service so...if it were not for that, I would be having to walk away from my home!
 

amadeus

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We know all the verses yet when injustice is smacking you in the face, there is little to comfort. I recall the worst, most evil thing ever done to me by someone I had trusted. I recall seeing them sitting there smug and self-satisfied while my whole world was reeling. It was surreal and yet I could see clearly for the first time how truly sick this individual was. She cut your throat and sat there blankly watching you bleed; a truly sick individual. I saw where another believer could commit evil as egregious as David killing Uriah by pretending to put him in battle so his actions of murder would be hidden. David was punished however - I have not seen the individual I knew punished. I would say that this person is truly dangerous. An enemy you can recognize; it's when one comes as a friend when the most evil is perpetrated because your defenses are down.
No one but God could bring us to the place of being able to love our enemies, or any who really show us nothing which to us seems loveable at all. Why does God allow such situations? As you say, David was punished, but his punishment was NOT what required by the law. For either adultery or murder, the punishment as per the law God gave to Moses, was death. God was merciful because He knew that there was a great potential in David.

One thing I can offer is my own testimony of my mistreatment of people in my own past... before I knew the Lord as I have come to know Him. God, even though I know Him now as I did not then, has never let me forget my unnecessary cruelty to individuals and the faces of each one remains stamped in my brain as a reminder, but He did forgive me. I have never had the opportunity to make it right with those that I hurt... and that pain of my inability to make it right remains with me. I expect that it will until I close my natural eyes that final time.

God also never allowed Saul/Paul to forget what he had done to believers of Jesus before his personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Then if you've ever read the autobiographical histories of Corrie Ten Boom during WWII [The Hiding Place and Tramp For the Lord], you may recall her difficulty as a faithful child and minister of God when she met one of the worst of the concentration camp guards directly responsible for her beloved sister's death. She asked God for help and got through it and so must we.

When we are witness to others who seemingly reap the benefits of their cheating ways, it is difficult to simply exist knowing that it is wrong and there is little or nothing we are able to do to change it. When I worked for Social Security I met quite a few such people and when I was able I did put a stop to it, but it was often a simply overwhelming or impossible task. There were always more violations than there was time, and sometimes, while I would recognize the problem I simply did not have the means or authority to take correct it. And this occurred in these United States with generally a better set of secular laws than those governing countless millions in many other countries of planet Earth.

It comes back to the question not simply of what we can do to fix it, but why has God allowed such things and why does He continue to allow them? My views and what the Bible says are available, but when we still really don't understand our only recourse is to put what we cannot touch into God's hands and ask Him to help us live with it... even if it must be in tears...

"Jesus wept."

Consider these three psalms which address the difficulty of seeing evil people in their material prosperities: Psalm 37, 49 & 73
The individual was stone-hearted and selfish. She got so many government benefits yet if she saw an accident victim lying bleeding in the road she wouldn't stop to lend a hand. That's why government benefits are galling at times; unworthy people get them. She got free windows on her entire house, free heat, housing assistance, and numerous other benefits. Now we're struggling and she has an acre of ground, has her house paid off, and vacations all the time; yet she sucked off you and me and everyone else. Her kids followed in her footsteps and all of them are doing better financially than most people I know. On top of that she did very evil things to those she was jealous of. She indirectly caused someone's death...and walked free. I have prayed because she is dangerous and IMO should be locked up. What I've seen is that the most dangerous criminals are those on the outside of jail.

The existence of unfair situations lies at the feet of too many men who in their selfishness and/or laziness are unwilling to do what they could do to make it better. If it were only among unbelievers, it would not be good, but there too many, who say they believe, who are in that same 'do nothing' boat. Help us dear Lord!
 
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CharismaticLady

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Yep.

I'm sure it's been quoted here already but 1 John 5:14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

I get caught feeling like my will is Gods will and I know the best resolution and can't grasp why God doesn't see that too. But I know God is always good and always right and I am not. So somewhere I am missing something but God sees it all.

The Greek meaning of our words can sometimes have more than one meaning, and a different meaning than what we think it implies. For instance, John 15:7. This one will also help you understand 1 John 5:14-15.

John 15:7
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

The English word, "word" can either be logos (like the whole written word), or RHEMA, the specific personal spoken word.

Rhema is this word. That means that you need to wait and hear God speak to you, then you repeat what He said in prayer, and it comes to pass. Sometimes miraculously. His sheep hear My voice.

I've seen many, many miracles, but for me it is always God doing them, and I just share what He's done. Even my prayers. My heart is generally filled with praise. I don't really pray until He tells me what to pray. I hope that doesn't seem disobedient. But, when He tells me what to pray, I do, and it comes to pass immediately. It is the only way I know of to pray God's will, except through prayer language. I remember once when I was traveling alone between Illinois and Arizona and had been having car trouble off and on for months, a strange grinding noise, but my mechanic could never find it as it never happened when he test drove my van. I was going uphill 30 miles outside Oklahoma City, on Interstate 40, and all of a sudden there was that grinding sound coming from the underneath of my vehicle, now louder than ever! I could feel the vibrations with my feet. Instantly God whispered to pray John 15:7. "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you may ask what you will and it will be done for you." Ask for a "Ford dealership." So I prayed, Lord I am abiding in You, and Your words do abide in me so I ask for a Ford dealership right now! Just after I crested the hill, there was an off ramp, and a Ford dealership at the bottom of it, out in the middle of nowhere.
 
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CharismaticLady

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Yes, I have read that one and many other Psalms during difficult time's!

It is interesting that since that first time God spoke to me through that verse, I've had other enemies, and God will bring that incident back to mind, and I will wonder if He means He will take care of the enemy and get him out of my life, and within a day, that person will be gone. So far, that has happened four times.
 

Truth

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It is interesting that since that first time God spoke to me through that verse, I've had other enemies, and God will bring that incident back to mind, and I will wonder if He means He will take care of the enemy and get him out of my life, and within a day, that person will be gone. So far, that has happened four times.

Your witness is refreshing, as when I am troubled He seams to lead me to Psalms. As you well know David was Persecuted for just being Righteous, at least in God's Eye's! I believe that David's Psalms were totally Inspired by God!
 

CharismaticLady

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Your witness is refreshing, as when I am troubled He seams to lead me to Psalms. As you well know David was Persecuted for just being Righteous, at least in God's Eye's! I believe that David's Psalms were totally Inspired by God!

Me too. I do know though that we can't just search for a verse on our own to use against someone, or for healing; it must only be lead by God. The logos must become Rhema, as only then will faith rise to move the mountain. Romans 10:17.

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God. That is the spoken word to you from God that His children are able to hear.