Why Prayers are Not Answered (4)

Today, we will meditate on another reason why prayers go unanswered in the fourth instalment of this series.

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines…
– Song of Solomon 2:15

4. Not Qualified/Mature Yet To Have It

Sometimes, we behave like little children and ask God for something we are neither mature enough nor equipped to handle. Imagine a ten-year-old boy asking for a car. That is the picture we present at times in our pursuits and prayer requests. We ask for and aspire after what we are not mentally, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, financially, or socially equipped to manage. And when God, Who knows better, decides not to release them to us, we whine and complain and doubt if He really cares about us as we often hear.

There is a world of difference between a gift and the ability to manage it; the possession of the first does not necessarily connote the existence of the second. A popular saying goes, “Anointing (a gift) can launch someone to a height where the character (ability to manage it) is not able to sustain them.” Such is the case when we ignorantly seek certain things that may result in our failure, humiliation, or public disgrace to the point that we will not have the courage to ever venture out again.

God is omniscient. He knows the appropriate time to give us everything we need. But due to our limited understanding, we often strive, scheme, and struggle for what we cannot hold on to at a particular time.

Wisdom is required to know the when of everything we desire in life. Imagine if Daniel had prayed for the liberation of the captives in Babylon in their 20th or 40th year in captivity, he would have only been praying into the future because God had already decreed that the captivity would last for 70 years.

It takes understanding to know the appointed time you are due for something, while then pursuing and praying for it at the appropriate time, not way before or after then, “Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise in heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him” (Ecclesiastes 8: 5-6 NIV).

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Also read:

• Why Prayers are Not Answered (3)
• Life from the View of An Embroider
• I Am Able to Give to Others