How should I respond when my prayers seem to go unanswered?

John 11:3-6So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days.

John 11:20-27When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

John 11:38-44Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

What do you do when God seems silent? When you think that God is ignoring you, he may be telling you “no”—and you don’t want to hear it—or he may simply be waiting because he knows that in waiting, your faith is tested and will grow stronger. Or God may be doing things behind the scenes, preparing you to experience him in greater ways than what you may be asking for. Mary and Martha didn’t understand why Jesus didn’t answer their prayer to come and heal their brother, Lazarus. Jesus waited because he had an answer better than anything they could imagine. When Jesus did come, their brother had been dead several days. But Jesus came to raise Lazarus from the dead to reveal his glory to many people and to strengthen their faith in him. Mary and Martha would have been grateful if God had simply healed Lazarus. But imagine their sheer joy at the sight of their brother alive again. Can you feel the hope they must have felt watching their brother walk out to them? You too can have this hope in times when God seems silent. God’s answer will come—and it may be better than your best dreams.

2 Corinthians 12:5-10That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God’s answers, particularly those we don’t want to hear, are always intended for our good and for God’s glory.