Recently a client was telling me she still has anger toward God because He wasn’t answering her prayers as she went through a divorce. She remembered that God ‘told her’ to leave the house three years after she discovered her husband had been continuously unfaithful. Afterwards, she kept calling for God to help her have the strength to get through all the muck that a divorce brings. God seemed to be silent. She said, “I haven’t been able to shake off the anger.”
As a counselor, who believes God intervenes in our lives with and without prayer, I thought for a moment how I was going to reply to her. At this moment, she was enrolled in college and working two part-time jobs. She stresses over school, but no longer stresses about the divorce, which is now final. In fact, she said, her life is so much better than before.
I queried as to what she is asking of God and, for which, she is not receiving an answer. She said she was asking for strength.
God Does Answer Prayers
My client was facing an age-old mystery. In the Bible, Jesus tells us, if we ask for something and we really believe, we shall have it. Mark 11:24. But, Christians can tell you they believe God will answer the prayer but they don’t always see any physical evidence of that happening. God never said how He was going to answer our prayers.
In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul writes to the church at Corinth: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now, I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. In ancient times, there were no modern mirrors that could exactly reflect our image face-to-face. The looking glasses at that time only gave us a distorted image. Therefore, when God answers a prayer, we cannot always tell it was answered as we understand ‘answered prayer.’ The answer to prayer in our minds is often what we want in a particular situation.
God can only answer prayers perfectly. So when we pray we must have the faith God is working behind the scenes to bring us to His perfection.
God Speaks In Different Ways
The Bible is full of answers to our prayers. If you’re looking for what God is saying go no further than the Bible. My client was praying for strength. Strength is mentioned in the Bible many times. Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.’ My client prayed for strength, but heard no audible voice or any real change in the divorce proceedings. But, by her own accord she said ‘I got through it and now I am living better life.’ Seems to me, God answered that prayer.
