The Prayer God Always Answers
By Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Family Minister
Matthew 7:8 – For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
I’ve been praying… and praying… and praying. I’ve been asking. I’ve been seeking. I’ve been knocking. Lord, what am I doing wrong? You said if I ask, seek, and knock, I will receive, find, and the door will open. Why does it feel like this isn’t working?
Ever feel this way? I certainly have. There is a special kind of grief when you keep praying for the same thing, and you keep hearing silence from God. It feels like he’s holding out on you. Feels like Jesus is taking back his promises.
Of course, there are the simple, easy, safe daily prayers. “Give us today our daily bread.” “Keep my loved ones safe.” “Help me know you better.” These are easy to pray because they are generic and it seems like there’s no doubt God is granting them. But those specific prayers, those heart-ache requests? Just praying them feels like a risk. And when God doesn’t answer? It can be crushing.
But what if the problem isn’t God? What if the problem is me? God knows my motivation, God knows my needs, God knows what’s best for me. I don’t always see these things so clearly. So sometimes I’m asking out of a selfish desire. Sometimes I’m asking for something I want when I haven’t even trusted God for what I need. Sometimes I’m asking for something that just isn’t right for me. But even then, the problem isn’t that God stops listening. The problem is that I don’t always know what is truly good.
Maybe I need to start with this prayer: “Lord, forgive me for foolish prayers, even if I don’t know they’re foolish.” That’s a prayer God will always say “yes” to. Because that’s exactly the kind of prayer Jesus died to answer. It’s a prayer of faith and trust in the God who saves, the God who forgives, the God who loves me.
But what do I pray after that? Retreat to the safe, generic prayers? No, but if I check my motivation and my trust, then I can go back to that thing I’ve been asking for. If it’s not obviously wrong (“Lord, please smite my brother because he is driving me crazy!”), then now is the time to just trust that either God will give it to me in due time, or he will give me something better. Because when God says “no” to what I’m asking for today, it’s never because he is holding out on me. It’s because he is saying “yes” to a better future for me, whatever that might be. Even if I won’t see it until eternity.
If you ever wonder whether God is really listening or really answers, look at the cross. There was a prayer God did answer with absolute certainty. Not because it was easy, but because it was necessary. Your sin was answered. Your guilt was answered. Your need for forgiveness was answered. God did not ignore that. He did not delay that. He answered it fully in Jesus. So when you pray now, you are not speaking into silence. You are speaking to a Father who has already proven that he hears and answers.
There’s one other thing to consider. See, you don’t know all things, so you don’t always know what to ask for. I like what Tim Keller once said: “God will only give you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he knows.” In other words, if you were as wise as God, you’d always ask for the right things. So what if instead you just prayed this prayer: “God, you know what is best for me. Give me what I need. I trust you. Amen.” That’s a prayer you can pray every day.
And once you’ve prayed that, then you can go back to that thing you’ve asked for over and over. Not wondering if God hears you – trusting that he does. Not demanding your answer – confident that your Father will give what is good.
Because he will. Every time.