Is it wrong to ask something of God?

Question

I've been praying for one thing, one simply thing, every day since I was old enough to understand what prayer is, and yet that one thing has never come to pass.

People claim that God is in the signs, but I have never noticed a response even in the negative towards my one prayer. And in the 23 years of my life, a lack of a response from God, ANY response, has steadily ground my faith into near non-existence. I'm at the point now where I don't think there really is a God, but I WISH there were.

What am I doing wrong? Am I just wasting my time?

Answer 1

Depends on the one thing.
Is it selfish?
Could you really truly handle it?

I prayed for love for as long as I could remember, and wow, its ME that manages to mess up my relationships.
I think the universe keeps me in school untill I figure out how to have a genuine one without mindgames, etc.
Which is why the fellow thats perfect for me hasn't shown up yet - I would mess that up.

Hope that makes sense.

Answer 2

You didn't say what the thing was that you've been praying for for years, so I'm kind of answering in the dark here.

You're not alone -- a lot of people might agree with you, because they don't understand what prayer is actually about.

People tend to have the feeling that it's all about asking God to give us things. And while it IS okay to ask for things -- I certainly do, and everyone else I know does too -- that's not the ONLY thing.

What prayer is really about is simply communication with God. Tell Him about your day -- what was good, what wasn't, ask Him to help you do better. There's an old mnemonic that was made to help us remember how to pray. It's ACTS => Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (maybe you know about it already, or maybe not). Supplication (that is, asking God to do something for us) is the last of the four things... perhaps the other aspects of prayer are something you need to work on (I'm guessing here based on what you wrote -- maybe you already do). But it sounds as if all your praying is only about this one thing, and our relationship with God needs to be a lot bigger than just what he can give us.

However, depending on what you're praying for, I'm inclined to tell you, don't give up. It was twenty-two years after I became a Christian before I found the love of my life and married him. I was waiting and praying for that almost longer than you've been alive. And I was angry, and bitter, and felt like the last toy left at a garage sale... but if I had married anyone sooner, it wouldn't be the wonderful husband I have now. I had to wait for the right time and the right person... and I thank God for him, literally every day of my life. But that didn't happen until I told God that it was His call...not mine.

I don't know if this has helped... I hope it has.

One thing, though -- the evidence for the existence of God amounts to a lot more than whether or not He has given you this one thing. That's like saying the planet Neptune doesn't exist, just because you haven't seen it with your own eyes... it's out there and it's been out there all along, whether or not we can see it with our naked eye.

Answer 3

The only thing you may be doing wrong is putting your faith in God and then expecting to get what you want. Jesus told us to ask and we will receive. It would have been helpful to know what you asked for. But even so, if you have not got what you asked, it was because of a few reasons. God will not interfere with your free will. If you ahve asked for something or some one to come into your life and you planned it differently so you would experience the lack of then it would not be in your highest good to fulfil this wish in this life time. It may be fulfilled in the next. I have seen my prayers and others fulfilled when I asked God for help. For example, the words of Jesus says, if you have faith of a mustard seed, you can move a mountain. I moved into a new house I had built. There was a mound of dirt so large that it was blocking my view.
It was unlikely since the developement was built, that the mound would go away on it's own. So I asked God to remove it. To my surprise, one day a big earth mover came and shoveled it all into trucks. I could go on about people who were prayed for became well when there was no hope.
If you are believing in God to give your wish and it did not happen in 23 years, maybe you need to look at yourself instead of blaming God and giving up your faith. You are choosing this as an excuse to disprove God. I do know that unselfish prayers seem to be answered sooner than selfish ones. I hope you hold on to your faith in God. It isn't worth loosing what you have because you decide he is not there.
Hope this helps. You may contact me for more experiences, thoughts and inspiration. Don't give up. In God's realm, there is no time.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 4

How frustrating for you! I can't say I've ever been in that same place, but I know how frustrating it is to pray long and hard for something and loose faith because it doesn't happen. I went 7 years praying for something - something that I knew God wanted for me and that He had promised to me. I definitely felt you on the negative response. Towards the end I had regretted ever loving Him and wished that He didn't even exist at all.

Something I've come to understand about God is that His patience to see something happen is quite possibly His most annoying trait. God doesn't really seem to have a problem in doing things at a pace that drives us nuts - mostly because He's usually up to some big plan that unravels rather slowly in comparison to our short lives.

Several months ago God finally started to answer that prayer and I am really thankful that He waited that long to it. It's okay to feel frustrated and confused. Maybe you should take some time out and ask Him to minister to you for a while and just see what happens.

Answer 5

Hi Jenn,
I feel to share something with you.
I was raised by a mentaly ill mother and didnt know who my dad was..( ) I went through abuse in every way imaginable. I always thought if my dad would have been there none of it would have happened. The desire to meet and know my dad stayed with me and would never totally leave my mind. At a certain point in my life I came to know God and saw Him as my Father and embraced it totaly. But after a while my desire to know my dad came back. I was married with kids and it just made the desire stronger. I had prayed ALL my life to meet my dad and did so lovingly and believing God was all I needed. Until one day I was angry with God and said to Him, WHY ? I dont understand, you said that you would answer me
you promised you would not withhold any good thing from me.
To make a long story short I had a dream that night about a man, The very next week I found my dad and met him and he looked just like the man in my dream, I thought WOW God answered my prayer...........but the end was the worst mistake I have EVER made in my life. He was horrible you cannot imagin all that he is and did. I knew then WHY God did not answer my prayers or allow Him into my life.
I pray you hang in there and trust God.

Answer 6

you are NOT waiasting your time. Sometimes God dosent think that your ready or well prepared for the thing you are praying for, I have proof. I had been praying for my mother to get well for 15 years and everyday I prayed, and i do admit thAT I had my doubts about God sometimes, but then one time the whole church prayed for her, Then she went in for a check-up and they said everything was gone no cancer no MS no artherites and thats what she had, but it was all gone. It was a miracle by God, nothing else, Sometimes God is testing your faith to see if you really have faith in him or not. So plz do not give up on him, cause one day your prayer will be anwered, i will pray for you, God Bless. Hope I helped, if you would like to talk more than you can e-mail me at [e-mail]

Answer 7

Prayer is not like writing a letter to Santa to get what you want for Christmas - no matter how valid the desire seems.

I see prayer as a way to tell God how I feel - which includes "please God I really want ....." Then I need to rest in the idea that God knows what I want, and he surely knows what I truly need. Sometimes i get a peace that he is "on the job" and whatever happens in that area is his will - and I may see what I asked for 5 days, 10 years, or 60 years in the future. or not at all.

Jesus once said "the Jews ask for a sign, but they will not get a sign except the sign of Noah." MeEaning a lot of people in his day said "Do this or that and then we'll believe you." Well, if He is just an order-taker what kind of God is that - who's in charge here?

Prayer is more like me aligning my will to Gods, not me trying to bend God's will to mine.

Hope this helps.

Answer 8

I am glad you brought this up. You know what after years of being religious , i had a similar experience and i almost forsake my religion. Then i ran into company of atheists while my heart was so much hurt that there is no God guess what happened. I witnessed an open miracle from God and all my questions were also answered and my illnesses went away. What you simply need to know now is your prayer will be granted when the time is perfect.

Answer 9

I'll tell you what - prayer is very simple. You must focus on the positive, focus on the desire as much as you can, not just on bended knee. You must be grateful in advance to be receptive to the desired outcome. Don't worry about how it will happen - if you are convinced it is impossible, then it will never happen. Simply sit quietly and visualize your success, and see it in the now - try to feel how wonderful you feel, now that you have your desire.

God and the Universe are listening all the time and what you dwell upon in your heart and mind is what you will get. If your heart and mind keep saying "I will never get what I want" that is just what you will get. If you say "I am so happy and grateful that all my wants are met" that is what you will get. I mean, so many of us pray our brains out for money, for example, but all throughout their day they say things like "I can't afford that" or "Money doesn't grow on trees" - their prayers conflict with their actions and mindset, and it's the actions and mindset that are more noticed.

You might want to check out The Secret at http://www.thesecret.tv

Peace!

Answer 10

I hope I can manage to phrase my answer to your question in a way that helps you find your way back to belief in God AND belief in the power of prayer. So, here goes...

First off, No is also an answer. not the one we want, but also a valid answer.

Secondly, prayer is meant to be a communication with and to God. Not a request for physical or material things. It is the showing of respect and love and thanks to God for all that He has provided us. And, it is also a request for His grace and blessings to give us the wisdom, strength and caring to be at peace with ourselves and our place in life. For example, when we learned that my Dad would die from cancer, I prayed that God would give him the bodily strength to move beyond and out of his pain and also that he would not cling to alife that only held suffering for him. I also prayed for strength for myself and my Mother to manage the pain and continue living as we must and should.

Thirdly, I am not sure what you mean by signs, but I believe and claim that God is everywhere. He is in the last person who smiled at you, the last flower you gazed at, the last music which brought you comfort, in the friend who simply hugged you or rejoiced with you, the last food you ate, the home you live in, the tree that cleans the air, the air you breathe, the child who giggles, etc. These ARE His response to you, you just aren't open to them. The good things brought into your life are meant to give you the strength and wisdom and the joy to know and accept what IS, and certainly not the end of happiness or life. It simply uplifts you and moves you forward to new moments and experiences.

Finally, God is your support system, He is always there to listen and He talks through the world around you. Prayer is your active connection to God. If you let yourself, you will feel His love and concern for you. What God is not is a store. We do not go to God for things. If you went to a shoe store in order to buy food, would you have a right to be angry or upset that there was no food for you to buy? Of course not!! Nor should you be taking God to task when you are trying to buy something from Him with prayer that He is not selling. Do you understand? I hope so, because whatever this one thing you have always wanted is, it is not worthy of all this pain on your part. Look at that which you have and embrace it and do not spend so much energy on what you do not have. If what you don't have is huge like a parent or child or a home or something comparable that is hard, but not impossible to live with. Use the energy to live with what IS. You will be so much happier and able to make peace with God in your heart if you do. God will help you through it in His way if you let Him.

Answer 11

God can be very tricky at times, there are many that will disagree with me on that however God will give you exactly what you ask for. The trick is asking for the right thing. Think about what you have been asking for. If you haven't got a response you probably aren't asking for the right thing. There is a way to ask for different things for the same thing :/ for example I had the chance to go to disney world to work for 7 months on a college program, i went to the orientation and the interview, afterwards i told God that i was at the door knocking and that i needed him to open the door. come January i was on my way to Disney World to work. on the other hand i met a girl down there who asked for a similar thing but asked for the wrong thing. She had the chance to audition to be a country singer. Instead of asking God to open the door she asked God to close the doors.

Just keep trying and believe that he will answer. It also wouldn't hurt to ask for God to answer in a way that you understand.