Conversations with God

But please listen to my prayer and my request. I am your servant, and you are the Lord my God. Hear this prayer that I am praying to you today.

– 1 Kings 8:28

We enjoy some very special privileges as Christ-followers. One of the greatest is the ability to go to God in prayer about our blessings, troubles, concerns and everything else that’s going on in our lives. Prayer is a give-and-take conversation. And it’s all possible through our faith in his Son, Jesus.

But if we have such a special relationship with the Creator, why is it that some

of our prayers go unanswered? After all, there are times when even the most seasoned Christ-followers feel like their petitions go no higher than the bedroom ceiling.

Let’s keep in mind that prayer is a bit like a long-distance phone call. Sometimes the message comes through loud and clear — as if the other person is in the next room. But sometimes there’s static, or the call doesn’t go through at all.

There are several reasons for these dropped calls to God. First, we need to make sure that the line is clear by dealing with any unconfessed sin in our lives. Likewise, if we’re carrying a grudge against someone — like a spouse or co-worker — it needs to be ironed out before we can expect God to listen to us. And faith also plays a big part in the equation. If we pray, but don’t think God has the power or desire to deal with our issues, why even ask in the first place?

But what happens when we pray sincerely and with good intentions, but our prayers still go unanswered? What’s important to remember is that God really does answer all prayers. It’s just that sometimes the answer is “no” or “not now.” As the Creator of all things past, present and future, he knows the big picture — the people, places and circumstances that make all the difference in the world to our situation. It's only later that we'll realize that God had a much better plan for us all along: not for what we wanted, but just for what we needed.