Of all the things that weigh us down, perhaps no burden is greater than this one—the issue of unanswered prayer.

We have all had the experience of unanswered prayer. We pray for God's healing for a loved one. We pray for God to bring revival and renewal to our churches. We pray for the hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan to end and for our troops to come home. Why does nothing seem to change when God has promised us, "Ask and you will receive"? Is Jesus being totally truthful when he tells us, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it"?

And so we cry out with the psalmist, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1).

Have you ever felt like the Psalmist? Have you ever wondered where God was when you needed him most? You’re not alone. A great many believers struggle with the issue of unanswered prayer. If there is a God, if he really does answer prayer, why doesn’t he answer my prayers?
Simplistic explanations just aren’t good enough. To simply say, “God always answers prayer. Sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no, and sometimes he says wait awhile” just doesn’t cut it. But we say this a lot. I’ve said it myself. But it sounds like such a superficial explanation when someone cries out to God from the pit of despair, and the heavens are as brass, and the answer never comes. For those who are in pain, a theoretical answer just isn’t good enough.

There are people who bear hidden scars from the pain of prayers that were not answered. They remember times when they prayed, really prayed, said all the right words with all the right motives, even asked their friends to join them in prayer, deeply believing that only God could help them out. And after they prayed, they waited and waited and waited, but God never seemed to answer.

We don’t talk about this problem very much. I suppose that’s because we’re afraid that if we admit our prayers aren’t always answered, it will cause some people to lose their faith in God. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what has happened. Many good, devout people secretly doubt that God answers prayer. They doubt it, for when it really counted, God did not come through for them. So in their hearts, deep in the inner recesses of the soul, hidden behind a smiling face, rests a profound disenchantment with the Almighty.

Sound familiar? We’re going to talk about this problem on Sunday. I can’t promise that I will be able to satisfactorily answer your questions. But I can tell you this: we will not be treating this problem superficially.