The Perplexity of Unanswered Prayer

As you read these words today, you surely have some ”unanswered” prayers. I do. Perhaps you have begged the Lord for the healing of a sick friend, the restoration of a relationship, the alleviation of a heavy personal burden, or clarity about His direction for your life.

Our Sympathetic Savior

Christ understands. Of course, He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. As a result, He can sympathize with our weaknesses, struggles, and perplexity (Hebrews 4:14-15). He does not reject our cries for relief because He also cried out prior to the cross. He “offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death.” (Hebrews 5:7). He was fully God, and knew the Father’s plan for His glory through the atoning sacrifice. Christ was also fully man, and knew the incredible agony of the cross. His prayers for deliverance from the cup of suffering went unanswered, but His ultimate desire for the Father’s glory and redemption of man were fulfilled.

Our Good Father

The Bible tells us that “our Heavenly Father gives good things to His children who ask” (Matthew 7:11).Yet, His will, not our desires, determines what is ultimately good for us because He is ultimately good. Our prayers are never ignored or unheeded. Our temporal longings may not be satisfied, but His eternal designs will be accomplished. We soon learn that God’s answer to a particular plea may be “no”, yet with the sure promise of something greater.

Paul’s Example

Yet our perplexity remains as we live with the pain of the burden and the questions about the road ahead. The Apostle Paul writes transparently about this very kind of journey. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he tells of his experience with his thorn in the flesh. We can only speculate of the specific nature of the thorn, but can firmly deduce its severity. It was like a “stake” that impaled him. Paul felt “buffeted” (beat with a fist) by this messenger of Satan.
As we often do, Paul repeatedly begged the Lord to take it away. Yet, God did not remove the pain. Instead, our wise and sovereign Lord responded, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). While Paul’s problem apparently did not change, his perspective changed dramatically. He went from being problem-conscious to power-conscious. Paul embraced the weakness he felt and, thus, experienced the great power of Christ’s sufficiency.

No Unanswered Prayers

In reality, the Christ follower's prayers never go unanswered. Our sympathetic Savior, the goodness of our Father, and the example of Paul assure us that God hears and responds. His answers may not always be in accordance with our immediate desires but fulfill God’s ultimate design for our lives. To help us respond properly and endure honorably, Christ gives us sufficient grace. Truly, He has tailor-made grace for everything we face. He lavishes grace on our unique pain and strengthens our inner being to make us thrive, even in the midst of our prolonged perplexities.

The Lessons of Grace and Glory

In the same book where Paul wrote about his thorn, he gives us powerful insight about the change in thinking that occurs in the heart of true disciples, even when our trials threaten to undermine our well-being. Paul writes, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul learned that his difficult external circumstances and his plaguing physical frailties unleashed a greater power at work in and through him, bringing glory to God. This is the power of the grace of the Gospel.
Paul gets more specific as he continues to write, “we are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).
Then, he reflects on one more benefit of this journey of grace, marked by pain and perplexity. He writes, “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15). Through his trials, Paul tasted deeply of grace and was given a vision of God’s ultimate glory in his life, and through his life in fruitful ministry to others.

Perspective for Today

Today, many of us face pain and perplexity that will not go away. It may be physical, emotional, relational, or financial. God may answer our prayers in a way that removes the pain and solves the immediate problem. He may answer our prayers by unleashing new grace in and through the pain.
Either way, we can embrace the right perspective. Read these words carefully, remembering they came from the heart of a man whose “thorn” never went away. May God give us all grace to live with these truths always in mind.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Copyright © 2010 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.