Regarding answered prayers, what about all the prayers that didn't get answered?

Question

Agnostic here, not wanting to change anyones religion,

if you say you have had prayers not answered but thats ok cause of a religious book that says sometimes prayers wont be answered, is it possible there is no God and sometimes things happen and sometimes they don't and someone wanted you to believe there is a God and so they said sometimes prayers are answered and sometimes they arent?

Answer 1

I used to wonder that myself.
Let me tell you a little story, though you may not read it all. I'll make it as short as possible, but...well, we'll see how it goes.
My dad started having health problems over a decade before I was even born. He had his first heart attack in 1968, twelve years before my birth. So by the time I was born, he was dying.
I first became a Christian when I was a child. I was, I think, seven. At that time, I started to realize that my dad was REALLY sick. I didn't know he was dying, but I knew that he was having problems.
When I was eight was when I started to realize that I was going to lose my dad. So I started praying, "God, please heal my dad."
God didn't. My dad died when I was ten.
For nearly thirteen years, I was angry at God. I couldn't understand why, if He was so loving, He allowed my father to die.
A lot's happened over the last two years. I gave my life back to God, and in return, I've started to understand why my dad died when I was so young.
First, it allowed me to have a close relationship with my mom. I can freely say that she is my best friend, and I love her with all my heart. I put her through hell and a half when I was a teen, but through it all, her love for me remained constant, and it strengthened my love and admiration for her.
Second, it forced me to grow up. I was a somewhat spoiled child. My parents felt bad for all the things I DIDN'T have that my brothers and sister did (we had more money, they had a healthy father for most of their life, and they had grandparents. My dad's parents died before I was born, and my mom's parents died soon after.) so they tried to give me as much as they could. This meant that I just about got away with murder.
Besides, my mom was focused on my dad's health, so neither one of them really had time for me.
Third, my dad was able to TALK to me. He told me all about his life...and now, I think I understand better than I did when he was alive. He is now immortalized forever in my sight, and I recognize what an amazing man he was.
What's the point of all this? It's that there IS always a reason for the answer being no. It took me thirteen years to recognize it, but I do.
Now I see the purpose behind so many things in my life. I've been through more than many people twice my age. At twenty-five, almost 26, I have LIVED. And I don't grieve for any of it anymore.
Was this the answer you were expecting?

Just a little disclaimer, and I'm done. I made some enemies on the politics section, and now they're following me around to all my answers and giving them thumbs-down. So don't be surprised if you see that I have more than seven thumbs-down, and everyone else on this page only has one or two.

Answer 2

I've had prayers answered "no." I don't think it's a matter of them being "unanswered" so much as that we sometimes don't like the answer.

I get what you're saying about the other explanation. I considered the possibility that there is no God. But in the end, I believe in Him and I have faith in prayer and trust in God that He knows how best to answer prayer.

Answer 3

The thing about prayers, you never know when they will be answered and they might be answered in a different way then they were asked. They also need to be a prayer that is not selfish, only meant for you. If you ask God for something, God knows if you really need that prayer answered or not. I had many prayers answered but on God's terms not mine.

Answer 4

Well, if you're agnostic than you believe that "something out there" helped some of your wishes (since you may not pray) get answered.

As a Catholic, I understand that God answers prayers on His time, not mine. As His time is infinite, I may not get what I want when I want it. OR-I may not get it at all if God feels it is not meant for me to have. It's liken to the old adage, "be careful what you wish for" except God is looking out for me.

I don't look at prayers as lottery numbers, where due to luck I may win.

That's the difference between those who have faith and those who do not. We who have faith believe that everything happens for a reason because it is in God's plan and therefore try to be more accepting (it's not always easy) of the way things go. Those who believe events "just happen" believe that that's just the way things are.

BTW, I'm not criticizing your belief system or lack therof. I just wanted to answer your question based on my beliefs.

Answer 5

Prayer is always answered.The answer may not be what we want or recognizable as an answer at the time.Some things will always be no such as peace on earth.
We have to trust in God and give the situation or problem to him with our whole hearts.Our personal struggles in the matter do sometimes prevent the fulfillment of our prayers.We must BELIEVE.With out belief less can be accomplished.

Answer 6

You are right about getting prayers answered...It is like a game of craps. You are naturally going to hit sometimes because of statistics, not God.

My understanding of God is more like, during the time in my life when I desperately called out to God because I was being destroyed by another human being, the dice hit 100%, so to speak.

Now that I am comfortable and if I asked for a nicer BMW, I can expect 0%, and to go out and get my *** another job.

Answer 7

All prayers are answered. Sometimes the answer is either "no" or "not now". Most of the unanswered prayers and those which are not in accord with God's will.

Listen to Garth Brooks song, unanswered prayer. Explains it well.

Answer 8

Not getting what you want is an answer; it means that that is not what you needed. Thank God for unanswered prayers. Sometimes, the things that we pray for are not the things that are really in our best interests in the long run.

Think about it. If God had really let you have that first girlfriend or boyfriend that you really wanted as your lifelong love, would you truly have been happy all your life? or did he or she turn out to be a harpy or a drudge?

That first job you really wanted? A good thing or a dead end?

We really must think back, reevaluate as we grow older, grow wiser, and thank God, thank the fates, thank ourselves (?), that not all our prayers are answered in the manner in which we wanted them to be answered.

Answer 9

How spoiled do you think you have to be? If God answered every prayer then I would be a millionaire. The only prayers that I think get answered are the ones that will help you to carry out the mission that God has given you on earth. Yes a mission from God. You have one and so do I. Yours could be just to pose questions like this one that ask others to re examine the faith that they put in prayer or to re adjust their thinking about God. We all need little reminders as to what we plan for ourselves and your question could be doing just that for me and countless others who indirectly get asked your question. So good luck to you and remember everyone who reads your question isn't going to reply with an answer and just like the prayer thing not all get answered. Keep asking those questions and God is watching to see if He can help, but only when He sees a need for it.

Answer 10

God always answers prayers. Sometimes he just says NO.
Sometimes things we want are not the best for us. I've heard
many stories where people didn't get what they wanted, and
later got something that was even better. We are governed by physical time in this world. And things take time.

Answer 11

All prayers get answered. Just because the prayer did not get answered when you want it to, does not mean it didn't get answered. And sometimes the answer is no.