Christians: What is the ratio between your "answered" prayers, and your "unanswered" prayers?

Question

I define "answered" prayers as a positive outcome. Whatever you asked in prayer happened in real life.

I define "unanswered" prayers as a negative outcome. This includes the popularized hypothesis that God simply said "no" or "not right now" to your prayer, even though he never literally told you anything.

How many of you even keep track of the unanswered ones?

Do you ever pray for illogical or impossible things, or do you always pray for things that could happen regardless as to whether or not you pray about it?

Answer 1

i bet it is 0 to 10000000000

never happens.

Answer 2

In Christian traditon the answer 'no' is a completely legitimate answer. Since a prayer doesn't have to be answered at the exact moment that the prayer is made it is impossible to say that a prayer will be unanswered. Also, sometimes prayers are answered in ways in which we do not see as an exact answer. For example, if you pray for money you might get a promotion 6 months down the road - therefore your prayer was answered but you probably will not connect your promotion to that prayer.

You cannot ask a question about christian beliefs and then tell them they cannot answer that question using their beliefs because there beliefs do not match your criteria. That is ignorant to the core.

Last, it would be impossible to give an ratio to you because I am pretty sure that any true Christian, Jew, or Islamic follower prayers many times a day and do not keep a record of everytime they pray. A prayer does not have to be a direct request, it can be a simple conversation with God. Whether or not they are talking to plain air is your opinion.

Answer 3

In some places that concept has gone too far. Even privately praying is frowned on simply because the school wishes to avoid the conflict. I can't blame them BUT in SOME (rare) places, it is discourages completly. I will play fair. BUT, but but...I live in the South and it's usually the other way around. My six year old was ostrasized from a group for not being "saved". The teacher did have to step in and tell ALL the children that school was not the appropriate place for it. It really is a case by case judgement call. There is a fine line between keeping your own rights and stepping on other peoples. We all just need to learn how to mind our own business when it comes to things like this. We, as a society, get offended entirely too easily. I honestly don't care if there is prayer around the flag pole or Christian clubs. I DO care when those same Christians socially ostrasize and outright fight OTHER faiths to have that same right. We need to learn to live and let live. ALL OF US. asker: In God We Trust wasn't added until the 50's. How did our forefathers have anything to do with that?

Answer 4

I believe the Bible teaches that God can answer yes, wait a bit, or no. All are answers, whether folks like to believe that or not. God is not just a yes-yes-yes machine.

God looks at the motives of the asker, as we do in a smaller scale with our children. And a good parent says no, probably a lot!

Asker, have YOU read through the Bible with your question in mind? There are good Concordances out to help you find the passages most pertinent.

1 Peter 3:7 speaks of a person's lifestyle "hindering" the prayers. I think this is a partial answer. Pertinent to this day and age also.

Matthew 6:5-15 has some thoughts on this too, and I believe you can find many others if you look, or with the help of a Concordance.

Now, I DO take exception to your idea that only when you get what you want it is an answer. Do you never say no to anybody on anything they ask you? Is not "No" an answer also. And I recall answering my kids who wanted to go to the park to play, wait, until I finish with my housework, and then we can go. You would deny this is a valid answer?

I think you are forgetting that God knows what is good for us, as we believe we know what is good for our children, and friends, etc. Which is why not getting what you asked for can be a very positive, constructive, beneficial answer.

I do not keep a record of answers of yes, answers of wait, and answers of no, when I do not get what I want. I do not recall my children keeping track of yes and no answers either.

And I would suggest that if your major prayer is to be close to God and in His will, your ratio of "yes" to "no" answers will be considerably improved!!

Answer 5

I don't really keep track. However, I HAVE seen that where mankind is powerless to change the outcome of an event, God sometimes intervenes.

I have asked for "impossible" things, and had them answered.

Others have had what you would call a "negative" outcome. Those actually contributed to my "losing" the little faith that I had when I was thirteen. But after a few years, when I started to believe in God, I asked Him to reveal to me WHY things worked out the way they did. I was literally given a glimpse into what would have happened if I had gotten what I wanted (for example, if my dad had lived).

Now I'm a lot more patient when it comes to prayer.

I give it about a 100% ratio, because even the few "negative" answers were negative for a reason.

Answer 6

I'm a Pantheist, but the only three times in my life I have ever prayed for something (when I was Christian), it was given to me. I don't believe in God, in a conventional sense but I do believe in will, and in.. I don't know. The power of hope? I can't explain it.
My prayers were:
1) That my mom would get better. She was seriously ill with a tumor.
2) That my Dad could get out of the military on early retirement so he wouldn't have to go TDY to .. I forget what country it was, I think it was Afghanastan or something. It was in the 90s when we were having problems with one of those middle-eastern countries.
3) That I would I grow up to be very intelligent.

I've received all three prayers, which makes the ratio 100%.

Answer 7

Ha, very lopsided.

I used to pray in thanks before every meal, and at night before bed for forgiveness and a pleasant sleep.

I once prayed fervently that I be able to visit Japan, if for just one day, as I was on my way to Korea and was more interested in visiting Japan. I had no idea how it would happen, if it did happen. Lo and behold when we touched down in Japan (to connect to a flight to Korea) the connecting flight was overbooked and we got to stay for a night!!!! I had never heard of overbooked flights, so I was stunned when I held a voucher in my hand for a hotel stay and bus ride, through Tokyo and to the hotel. It was exactly what I had asked for. I specifically mentioned in prayer that it should happen because I would be passing right through Japan, and didn't know when I would be so close to the country again, and it did happen...

...but I later lost faith in prayer when I prayed for a more meaningful and necessary thing: a wife. I prayed for a wife, because loneliness was taking its toll on my life. I mentioned in my prayer that I was a 23 year-old virgin (around that time I was 23), in line with God's demands of us, and that I would be fine with having just one woman in my life, ever, and that I would stick with her even unto death. What happened? Well, all of the girls in the church my age married someone else and moved away. One even moved to Ireland. Moreover all the guys my age, taller and better looking (white or black, not Asian like me), also got married to girls from other churches in the area (same religion, different congregations), and started their own families. About three years later they are all pretty happy and I'm still single, but I haven't prayed for the last two years. I had particular interest in one girl, and she was snatched up pretty quickly without much of a pause.

I abandoned prayer and got into fornication and a lot of other things, like getting drunk a lot, money, jewelry, guns, smoking, etc. None of these things were criminal, but they all came together and were sometimes in the same proximity. I had a small safe with a 0.38 revolver, $800 cash, and a $3000 diamond in it, all so I could get involved with women, if possible. I was so lonely. Lemme tell you that the type of women you meet, that way, aren't really fun to be around. What I really wanted was real love. Oh, well. Can't go back now.

I'm not sure what kind of ratio that is but I would give up a measly, juvenile trip to Japan for a loving wife of the same (former) faith as me, who actually cares about me.

Answer 8

Hmm well anything that i ever asked for which was truly meaningful and important in my life happened. Things like being with the one i love after so so many struggles we had to overcome, such as getting my British Citizenship (and no i didn't get it through my spouse, who is an american actually) without any problems and delays, which helped me tremendously since i recieved it. And many more.

But I also prayed for a lot of silly things, and I'm actually glad now that some of them didn't come true!

Like I used to have a crush on this boy at school and I prayed that he'd like me back and for us to be together... but after a few years i found out what a jerk he really is, and was soo glad I never had any relationship with him.

I also prayed (and i know this is gonna sound very silly) to have really long hair, again when i was younger, like you know just to wake up with long hair one day, because my parents used to cut mine really short all the time, but now i see how silly that request was.

So yeah, when i look at my life all the meaningful and important things i ever prayed for were given to me, and i don't really care about the silly ones :)

Answer 9

well, I really don't keep track whether they're answered or unanswered but I do believe that a lot of them were answered. and also some of what I prayed for gets answered real quick!! I guess that's how God works. He'll give it to you if its really meant for you. And I don't believe that God would ever say "no". maybe He's just saying its not yet time for us to get what we asked for. Everything's possible with Him.

Answer 10

Good question. In life, you can only really answer this question IN RETROSPECT. Only later in life can you see whether your prayer was relevant to the whole. What seemed to be a NO twenty years ago can often be seen to be a pointer to a development in life that really mattered. You often pray because you cannot see the whole picture at the time. Answers too can be ambiguious so be careful how you interpret answers.

Answer 11

LOL Thats not fair. Okay and I am about to tell you why.

Long story short - 10 years ago I was pregnant and married to my first husband. On Thanksgiving of 1997 I found out he was having an affair. Lots of Prayer for healing of my marriage, move on. December 31, 1997 I filed for divorce. February 3rd 1998 my son was born. April 6th, 1998 I was divorced. Still more prayer, please Lord God save my marriage let my ex-husband see the light and come home to his family. Blah blah blah, fast forward three years of fervant prayer for the same thing, but now more for strength and self respect.

In July of 2001 I fell in love, in August of 2001 my ex-husband came back to me on his knees begging me to take him back. By now my son was 3 years old and I had been doing the single working mom thing just fine. I politely declined.

In August of 2002 I moved to Florida from Washington State to be with my new love. 2003 we wed and soon came our 2nd child. Keep in mind I had been praying for the Lord God to save my marriage. Well he did in his own sweet time and to his will not mine. My husband and I are both members in our Church and he is a devout Christian. See contrary to your belief system all prayers are answered, just not the way we are expecting them to be. God knows whats best and he has a plan for our lives. Scoff, choke, spit coffee out your nose, it's true.

Well anyway, 100% of my prayers have been answered, I just have to be consistant in prayer and patient in life.

PS- those 3 years I spent alone working and spending time with my son. Not on Public Assistance, and 2 years without child support. If not for God's help you explain to me how I got through that time period.