"I have been praying to God for something for so long. Why isn't God answering my prayers?"
I used to have thoughts like this believing that God wasn't responding to my prayers. Thankfully I was later on corrected by the realisation that God had always been responding immediately. I just wasn't listening to the response. We only like listening to God's voice when He says "yes" or "it's already done," but we automatically shut off lines when God says "wait" and start thinking God's being quiet.
God always answers us. Jeremiah 29:12-13 says, "Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." God is always listening and He always responds, but sometimes He simply responds by saying "wait."
When God tells us to "wait," it's not like when a telephone operator puts you on hold indefinitely. He's actually trying to communicate something important to us. Here are three things that God is actually saying when He tells us to wait.
"Trust me."
Proverbs 3:5 commands us, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." Why? Because our own understanding will forever be limited and sometimes even mistaken. God, however, knows all things and sees all things and knows what's best for us even when we don't see it.
As a result, God asks only that we trust in Him. It's in the context of trust that our relationship with God grows best. When we learn to trust Him more, we fast track our growth in our relationship with God.
"I have something better."
1 John 5:14 actually promises this: "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us." God hears every prayer and responds to everyone, but grants only those that are "according to his will."
Because God knows what's best for us, He will often reject requests that will only hinder His best for us. When God says wait, He is saying that He has something much better waiting for you and your request could just prohibit or even be in conflict with His good, pleasing and perfect will.
"I'm protecting you."
Because we don't know better many times, the things we ask for can actually be harmful for us. But God does not let it come because He loves us. Luke 11:11 says, "What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent." God wants to give you the best fish, but we keep asking for snakes. When God denies a request, let's remember that He's just protecting us from the "snakes" that we so wrongly desire.
