Why Didn’t God Answer My Prayer?

Why didn’t God answer my prayer?

I have certainly struggled with this question after losing my husband to cancer. I believed that God was hearing us pray and ask for healing. We believed so strongly that He would answer our prayers. Since my husband passed away, my faith has been tested many times. I have continued to pray for others for healing, but there is always that gnawing feeling that God may not answer, and they will die. In fact, I have been to and even spoken at funerals of friends who I have lost to cancer since my husband died. I prayed for them, too. It seems like every day I hear of someone else being diagnosed. I don’t want to doubt God, but then I start to wonder, “Why didn’t my prayers get answered?”

• Did I not believe enough?
• Did I not pray the right words?
• Should I have fasted more?
• Was there something that person was doing that kept them from receiving their healing?
• Was there something I was doing to keep God from hearing my prayer?
• Did God need to call them home because He needed them there (seriously, I have never believed that, but I have heard others question that)?

When we look at 1 John 5:14-15 we see that God ALWAYS hears us when we ask.

And we are confident [CERTAIN][1] that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.

John goes on to say: “He will give us what we ask for.” Ok, God, I asked for my husband to be completely healed from cancer. I asked that David would come out of that bed restored to complete health. So you heard me? People would tell me, no matter how God chooses to heal, David will be healed, even if God chooses the “ultimate healing.” Who has heard that before? Well, we know that the ultimate healing is Heaven but I didn’t want to accept that one and it still doesn’t make sense to me. David told us, “If God is finished with me here on this earth, then I am ready to go.” That doesn’t set well with me either. Bottom line, you will never convince me that God took my husband and it was in His plan. You can argue with me all you want, but I’m CERTAIN that is not the case. Why am I certain? Because that doesn’t line up with God’s promises and His Word.

So, then why did my husband die? Why did your loved one die? Why are you dealing with cancer in your own body or that of a loved one or even death? I’m not certain what you have been praying for, but if you are reading this, there must be some “WHY” somewhere in your life.

To answer that question, we have to take our eyes off of what we are UNCERTAIN of and look at what we should be CERTAIN of:

1.) Jesus came to bear all our sin and sickness on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to bear it. He took our punishment for sin upon Himself. (Isaiah 53)

But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.

Isaiah 53:5

2.) Jesus walked in authority when He was on this earth. He healed the sick and cast out demons.

That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

“He took our sicknesses
    and removed our diseases.”

Matthew 8:16-17

3.) He said that the SAME works that He did, all those who believe in Him would do . . . EVEN GREATER WORKS.

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

John 14:12-14

So why aren’t we seeing people healed and delivered like they saw in the New Testament when Jesus would come into a town? Why aren’t we seeing it like the early church saw the signs and wonders. The only way I have learned to justify or cope with this question without questioning my belief in God or His Word, has been to do what I heard a pastor say this weekend, “move the goalposts.” If I don’t let myself believe for the supernatural, I won’t be disappointed with God or myself, if I don’t see it happen. So, I have become mediocre in my belief in what God can and will do right now. I tell people how faithful He is and I believe that. But I’m only holding on to SOME of His promises with this answer, not all of them.

I was shaken out of some of some of that complacency this past weekend when it seemed like all hell was breaking loose, again, against my family. Let me tell you the timeline of some crazy events:

• Wednesday evening: My aunt was taken to the emergency room with extreme pain in her lower back and abdomen.
• Thursday afternoon: My aunt was able to come home, but she was still in excruciating pain and no real answer as to why.
• Friday morning: My other aunt called me having serious heart pains and was heading to the emergency room. I headed there to meet her to find out that she was having a severe heart attack. She had a 95% blockage in a large artery that they were able to stent, but she would need to recover in the hospital so they could keep an eye on her for several days.
• Saturday evening: I called my parents to check on them and could tell something was wrong by my Mom’s voice. She was preparing things to take my dad to the emergency because he was having chest pains. My daughter and I packed some things and jumped in the car to make the drive to be there with my mom and dad. While on the road, I get news that my dear friends are at the emergency room with their youngest daughter who is having severe abdominal pains.

Normally, one would think that would be enough to send someone into crazy town. You can’t make this stuff up. For whatever reason, this has been happening far too often for my friends and family. I always tell people I will pray for them, and I do. But my faith has been shaken and sometimes my prayers are mediocre, at best, and my faith that full healing will come is not very great. My uncertainty in the outcome of a dire situation has caused me to brace myself for the worst instead of believe God for the best.  Even though I know that the Bible is clear on what we can expect when we ask God for healing. Some would say, “But it says, if it is His will, so maybe it wasn’t His will.” So then, what is His will when it comes to healing? I think He is very clear that it IS His will that we walk in HEALING and WHOLENESS. That means that we stop letting the enemy deceive us into thinking that we have a sickness, disease, or even mental illness because God wills it and that He is just giving us the grace to walk through it. That is “MOVING OUR GOALPOSTS”. Trust me that I am on this journey right alongside you, not preaching at you. I’m saying things here that I am reminding myself of and delving into the Word for answers to. This is not something that I can sum up in this short text, and I look forward to sharing more with you and conversing with you through the comments below on this topic.

But to help answer the question that is the title of this blog for today, HERE IS WHAT I AM CERTAIN OF:

• It is God’s desire for us to have physical healing on this earth.
• It is God’s desire for us to have mental and emotional healing on this earth.
• It is NEVER His will for us to be afflicted with sickness or disease.
• It is NEVER His will for us to be bound by demonic activity.
• The enemy is trying (and being quite successful, I may add) in convincing The Body of Christ that we should accept the things that WE CANNOT CHANGE and making us doubt those things that we should be CERTAIN of in Christ. We cannot “Move the Goalposts” and become mediocre in our prayer life. We need to believe what God said is true and what Jesus did on Calvary settles the debate on what God’s will for healing, IN ALL FORMS, really is.

I encourage you today to pray like you never have. If someone is sick, believe that God will heal them and pray for that. It really has nothing to do with how we pray, where we pray, how often we pray, how loudly we pray . . . you get the picture. All we must do is pray and believe.  The answer to the WHY we don’t see a prayer for healing or deliverance answered is NEVER that it may not have been God’s will. We need to stop asking, “Why” and focus more on just going and doing what Christ told us to do. The outcome doesn’t diminish the promise and what Jesus already did on the cross to purchase our salvation, healing and deliverance. He set the goalposts where they need to be and we don’t need to tamper with that. Just keep moving toward the goal by praying and believing.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Matthew 16:17-18

This coffee and conversation on healing and deliverance is TO BE CONTINUED, so please make sure to follow Morning Coffee so you don’t miss anything!

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[1] Added for Emphasis (Heather Kristin)