Prayer, Does God always Grant Us Our Request?

By: Hubert Crowell

We know that God answers our prayers, but does he always grant our request? We read in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 where Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to remove his thorn in the flesh and God told him "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God did answer Paul. However, He did not grant his request.

As Christians we some times try to put God in a box and read his words in a way to fit our ideals. We only get a glimpse of His power and creation and we do not know all of his ways.

As a young man I developed a hiatus hernia, the doctor remarked that getting a hiatus hernia was unusual for a young person, however I was in construction at the time and lifting heavy equipment. I had all the tests ran and confirmed the problem. I always felt like something was pushing up in my throat, drinking a glass of milk would ease the discomfort for a while. One evening during a church service, I went forward and had the pastor and elders lay hands on me and pray for healing of the hiatus hernia, which was causing me great discomfort at that moment. The discomfort immediately left me and it has been more than thirty years now with no discomfort from the hiatus hernia. Was the hiatus hernia healed? No, tests that were run several years later revealed that I still had the hiatus hernia, I just no longer have any symptoms. I do not know why He choose to answer that prayer in that way. However, I am sure that He had a good reason for just the way I was healed.

We should not become discouraged, when we pray for someone or about something and do not see any results. We could ask God to show us why a prayer request is not being granted, or continue to pray about the request until God's time is right for an answer. There is always the free will of others that play a part in the prayers we bring before God. He listens to all of our prayers, but there are many factors involved. We should also be watchful for the answer to prayer, often prayers are answered and we do not even recognize when it happens. We may assume that a prayer was not answered when it may have been answered in a way we total did not expect.

My wife prayed for years for her parents to come back together after a divorce. Her Dad remarried and it seemed impossible that this request would ever be granted. In time his second wife passed away and many changes took place in both Mom and Dad's lives, until they did remarry and now have been married the second time longer than all the time they were apart. My wife did not give up on her prayer for her parents and we should not give up on our request ether.

We should never feel that we cannot talk about unanswered prayer requests or feel guilty that our faith may not be strong enough for a prayer to be answered. We should never pretend that a prayer has been answered when it has not. Being strong in faith has a lot to do with admitting that we do not have all the answers and that we are willing to be changed into the likeness of Jesus. Who prayed on the Mount of Olives "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Jesus made a request that he would not have to suffer on the cross and at the same time knew that the request would not be granted.

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hubertcrowell@comcast.net