We often hear that God answers prayers, but the way those answers show up can look very different from what we had in mind.
Sometimes it’s clear, other times it’s not.
I wonder how people think about that, especially when the answer feels like “no” or “not now.”
Agreed!
There was one time that I had a utility shut off notice, I was self employed and it was my slow season. I prayed about it daily. Daily because it wasn’t being answered. I’ve needed help before and prayed and got some work and earned money, paid the bill praised the Lord.
So this time I’m looking for the hone to ring with some work. The phone just stayed quiet. The shut off day came and went. It didn’t get shut off, started praying even harder, Lord I have been blessed that they didn’t shut it off yet, please send me some work so I can save my utilities!
No answer. I prayed every day. it got to be two full weeks past my shut off date and I know utility companies are they’ll shut anybody down in a minute. But I got no answer to my prayer, my phone was on vacation or something. Ok so, maybe God isn’t going to answer this prayer and that’s ok, I’m sure He has a good reason. But I got scared. They could be out there right now pulling the plug! So I caalled them up on the phone and told them, my shut off notice was for two weeks ago, are they on their way? WHat do I expect now? Please hold…
She came back on the phone and said, ok I know what happened now. We took a look at your payment history and can easily see that if you have the money you pay. So we decided to give you a break and more time to catch it up….I didn’t know what to say to that. Utilitiy companies arent like that. Give someone a break? Never heard of it. And then it hit me, the Lord must have softened their heart to give me more time! So He did answer it, just not how I expected it or told Him to!
We can pray to the Lord and ask for help, but it is up to Him how He answers it.
thats truly wonderful. sidenote, to ease your anxieties if a shut-off notice happens again that you cannot prevent, a call to them in the first place could alleviate your worries instead of just waiting for the “inevitable” :] maybe they would have told you upfront that they will give you more time.
Correct. My thoughts have always been that he says yes, no, or not now. I think that pretty much covers it. God is a good God and has our best interest in mind and knows how to guide us through his eternal insight.
I’ve never had good luck doing that before. All it seemed to do was to get the shut off notice back up on the top of the desk. I don’t have good luck like that.
Not my will, but thine.
The Scriptures give us a clear picture of Christ’s posture in prayer, especially in Gethsemane. In Luke 22:42 (ESV), Jesus prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Likewise, Matthew 26:39 (ESV) records, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” The key term here is the Greek θέλημα (thelēma), meaning “will” or “purpose.” Christ is not expressing sinful resistance, but rather the reality of His true humanity, He naturally recoils from the cup of wrath, while perfectly submitting to the Father’s divine will. His human will is in complete, obedient harmony with the divine.
When we come to James, we are not given a contradiction, but an exposition of why our prayers often fail. James 4:2–3 (ESV) says, “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” The verb αἰτέω (aiteō) means “to ask” or “to petition,” but James qualifies it with κακῶς (kakōs) wrongly, with corrupt motives.
In other words, the issue is not merely that people don’t pray, but that when they do, their requests are governed by self-centered desires rather than God’s will.
James then gives the positive counterpart in James 5:16–18 (ESV): “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” The phrase “working” comes from ἐνεργουμένη (energoumenē), meaning active, effective, operative. Elijah is given as an example, not because he was extraordinary, but because his prayers were aligned with God’s purposes. This is the contrast: ineffective prayer flows from disordered desires, while effective prayer flows from righteousness and alignment with God.
Putting this together, Christ shows us the pattern of true prayer, submission to the will (θέλημα) of God, while James exposes the problem of fallen human prayer, which is often driven by passions rather than submission. The conclusion is unavoidable: the power of prayer does not lie in human intensity or repetition, but in conformity to the will of God. True prayer echoes Christ, “not my will, but yours be done” and anything less is precisely what James rebukes.
J.
lol! that makes sense. glad it worked out.
As we read the Bible, we see God most definitely doesn’t answer prayers the way we expect.
As far as I know, if a man, out of duty, prayers for those things which are according to the will of God in the Word, thus, essentially, that the will of the Lord God Jesus Chrisit, may be done, and not man’s own proprial considerations, and if he or she is commited to live according to follow the Lord by His Divine Commandments, taking up his cross daily, then a man can be heard. Otherwise, is a prayer anything else than pushing his or her private agendas onto the Lord’ thinking that by pressing hard, the Lord Infinite Mercy can become more merciful?
I agree on those three answers, @Jdeanb2, but I would add a fourth answer that I have experienced, “not the way you expected,” because when I prayed that God would replace my impulsiveness with self-control about my eating habits, it was about my addiction to chocolate. However, he did more than I expected. He took away all of my desire for all foods except during two meals a day! I just drink water in between my meals. He surprised me! I’m thankful as a recovering chocoholic. 
