Prayer is a serious business.

When people are in distress, they will often turn to God for help. And some who find great help in such times may continue to trust in the Lord. The Psalmist in Psalm 116 is a classic example:

I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1, 2)

How many people have called on God in times of great distress? Many times more than most of us might imagine. Our very language today demonstrates how prayer and calling out to God is a part of our very thinking.

Even unbelievers who have no intention of praying for anything will exclaim, “O my God!” or “Jesus Christ!” when they're shocked or faced with sudden tragedy or terror. The name of the Lord is on the lips of a great many people when they face anything surprising, disappointing or upsetting.

The fact of the matter is, a great many Christian believers have faith in God, and specifically in the Lord Jesus Christ, because God has heard and answered their prayers. People tend to believe in whatever works, or in whatever appears to have worked for them.

And the fact that prayer actually works (God hears and responds to prayer) makes believers out of millions of people who are not even Christians.  C. S. Lewis and others have remarked on how God even answers the prayers of people who call on the wrong god.

One thing is certain, God is proactive in human affairs, and He does work in the lives of all people.

But not everyone sees their prayers answered. I talked with a gang leader in New Orleans some years ago who blamed God for the death of his daughter. And that “failure” on the part of God to hear and answer his pleading was his reason for not trusting in God. He was angry and still filled with sorrow at the loss of his child.

Everyone who prays have had some prayers that seemed to do no good. God either was not listening, was not interested, or was not willing to do for us the things we asked.

In fact, I feel safe in saying that many of us are praying prayers right now that seem to be doing little or no good. Some of the things we’ve been praying about seem as far away now as they were when we started -- maybe even farther away. I believe that God uses certain difficult circumstances in our lives to teach us faith and patience -- two things we're not interested in when we're wanting a specific answer to prayer.

Sometimes, the Lord uses the things we really want to draw us closer to Himself, to prompt us to a deeper walk in the righteousness and godliness of Jesus Christ -- just as a mom or dad might hold up a favorite toy when an infant is learning how to walk, holding it just out of reach to urge the child to take a few steps. The Lord may hold back something He is perfectly willing to give us until we've taken some new steps of spiritual growth.

God’s objective, after all, is not that we might have everything we always wanted, but that we might grow up in the faith and obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord. God is growing children, perfecting saints, teaching us His ways, and using us as lights in the dark. He will teach, speak, rebuke, correct, encourage and reward -- whatever it takes -- to brings us along. Our growth and faith, our eternal success as men and women of God is that important to Him.

Often we are confused by unanswered prayers. Is God somehow answering our prayers when we can’t see or feel anything happening? Does God work behind the scenes to make things happen, even when He seems to be telling us, “No,”?

In Mark 11:21, Jesus makes a clear statement to the disciples. He says simply, “Have faith in God.” That comment is in direct response to Peter’s amazement that a tree cursed by the Lord has visibly died and shriveled up overnight. And it implies that the disciples do not really have much faith in God.

Should they? The Jews of that time were under the crushing hand of Rome, and had been oppressed by Gentile nations since the days of the Babylonian Captivity. Obviously, they had been praying to God for freedom and for the power to exist as an independent kingdom. They had been praying for God to send them a fearless and powerful prophet like Elijah, a great conquering king like David. They longed for the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, to come and rescue them from all their enemies.

But nothing was happening. Nothing good, anyway.

Judea was ruled by a murderer who was not even a Jew at all. And the people were kept in place by Roman legions, Roman officers, Roman infidels. If there really was a God, He must be ignoring them, or deliberately shaming them, or maybe He had simply forgotten all about them.

But throughout His ministry, Jesus kept telling the common people, the sinners, the disciples, and even the religious leaders themselves to have real faith in God. Jesus taught that God does hear and answer honest and sincere prayers. Jesus showed by His very actions and reactions that God has a heart of compassion for anyone who suffers in this life. And the Lord Jesus repeatedly confirmed that the Scriptures, which told of God’s goodness and mercy and righteousness, were trustworthy.

One case that comes to mind is the beaten down father of a demon-possessed boy who pleaded with Jesus to help his son, “...if You're able to do anything, have pity on us and help us." Jesus responded with, "If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes."

The man was broken. He had lost all real hope. His son had been vexed or possessed by a demon since early childhood. over the years, the boy had become worse and worse. The man had done all he knew to do, and had taken the boy every place where he thought he might find a cure -- even to the very disciples of Jesus.

Nothing good had ever happened. How could the man have any faith left?

But the words of Jesus were clear and powerful in their promise. When God speaks hope and impossible faith to our hearts, it does not matter how we felt just moments ago, or what has just happened. We suddenly believe and dare to hope again.

Jesus’ words to the man were clear and powerful: “All things are possible to him who believes." And immediately the father of the child cried out, weeping and saying, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

The Lord Jesus loves children. He was not going to send this child away without being healed and set free from the terrible torment of an evil spirit. But the Lord also loved the broken-hearted father.

Who knows how many nights the man had remained awake, weeping and begging God for a miracle, for anything at all that might help his son. Perhaps the man had even prayed, “Lord, take me instead, and make my son whole.”

Parents are not above begging and bargaining with God for their children’s health and well being.

But all the weeping, all the tears and prayers must have seemed in vain. Day by day, the boy only grew worse. The torment increased. Day by day the sun went down again with no miracle, no cure, no help at all. Why bother to keep hoping at all?

The crowds were gathering, closing in on the scene, wanting to catch a glimpse of Jesus, wanting to see what He might do. But their eyes can’t see everything that Jesus is doing.

The Lord is focusing on the heart of this dad. There is a healing needed here that human eyes cannot see. The people could see the boy. And they could see that he needed a miracle. But the people could not see the despairing heart of this dad who had reached the end of all hope.

This man’s life had been continually crushed by the weight of his son’s condition. Sometimes it can actually seem easier to simply give up all hope, to stop holding out for the miracle we have asked for.

I know you've heard the voices inside your own heart and head:

“Just get on with life and forget this useless hoping and praying.”
“Accept defeat. It’s just too painful to keep hoping.”
“Why keep bothering God about something He obviously cares nothing about?”
“The time for God to act is already passed. It’s too late now for even God to do anything.”
“You're cursed. Your own sins keep God from listening to your prayers.”

This dad had also struggled with the same kind of thoughts. He had all but given up -- that is, until he finally met Jesus, face to face. To meet with Jesus is to suddenly see one’s own life as only God can see it.

This poor man needed Jesus. Yes, the boy needed a cure, a divine rescue. But for a much longer time the dad had needed genuine faith in God. And the unwitting demon that struck out at this family had no idea that his evil work would actually drive the dad to faith in Jesus Christ. So often the devil plays right into the very plans of God. If a person is pushed far enough they might just respond to God in genuine faith.

No one wants to see a loved one suffer. And we hate it most when we feel totally powerless to do anything that will really help.

But there is One who loves and cares even more for those we love than we do. There is One who sees the entire path of a life, who sees the needs of the heart, and who sees all of eternity ahead. There is One who is able to do anything -- anything at all -- including giving us the very faith we need to pray again when it seems that all hope is gone, or should be gone.

Paul writes:
Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with sighs & groanings too deep for words... What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8: 26, 31 & 32)

There is a God will help us when we simply turn to Him, placing everything in His capable hands. When we are ready to trust him to do what's best.

What should we do when we've already prayed, already trusted, already hoped in God, and yet nothing has happened? What should we do when God hasn't done anything at all to help us? Jesus said it best: “Have faith in God.”

By the time the broken-hearted father reached Jesus, he honestly didn’t know if anything at all would ever make a difference for his son. He didn’t know if anything could be done.

Nothing had every worked yet. One by one all the things he had tried had failed, leaving him more despairing than before. And yet one by one, the failures and unfulfilled hopes had led him closer to the real Answer. The man did not know he was moving any closer to a cure, but he was already on the path to God’s Answer: Jesus Christ.

And finally, one day, he came face to face with Jesus. And nothing was ever the same after that encounter.

What about here and now? What about us?

Why bother to pray? Why call on a God we can’t even see? Why trust in God when He seems not to be answering? Why should we bother to keep hoping, keep trusting, keep praying the same prayers that've not worked yet? If God isn't doing anything, why should we bother to pray anymore?

This is why: Because the God we cry out to is the God who hears the faintest whisper of every broken heart. The God we cry out to is the God who cares for every living thing -- not just people.

The God we cry out to loves the people of this wretched world so much that He gave up His only Son, so that anyone in any place might have the free gift of eternal life. The God we are “bothering” with our problems is the God who gave us His own Son, so that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9, 10)

You see, God knows a little bit about losing a child. God understands how it feels to have an innocent child suffer. God knows how it feels to commit Himself to a hope that something good may happen to make all the suffering worthwhile.

While we were still sinning against God, Christ died for us. And not one of us were standing there, promising God the Father that if He would allow His only Son to die, then we would repent and believe and be changed. But He took the risk. Why? Because He had compassion on us.

And God is standing there now, promising us that if we will trust in Him, He will take care of things. Not every prayer is answered in full this side of heaven. But a great many are. Sometimes the miracle comes and we don't see it because we stopped looking for it.

God answers prayer. Jesus Himself declares to us: “Have faith in God." and "All things are possible to him who believes."

After all, nothing is impossible to God. And He will truly answer all who call on Him for help. He will not fail us. God never fails.

Don't give up on God. He has never given up on you.

Allow the Lord to fill your heart with renewed hope as often as you need it. Seek His face and ask Him for His strength. The battle you wage in prayer today may be the very battle that wins the war.

And afterward, when God has once again shown His powerful hand, answering your prayers, you will join the Psalmist in saying:

I love the LORD, because He has heard
my voice and my supplications;
because He has inclined His ear to me.
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1, 2)

My Father in heaven, blessed and holy and precious is Your sacred Name. Please bless and help all who cry out to You this day. And I ask, Lord, that You will also work powerfully in the lives of all who do not know enough to even bother praying. Father, every human soul needs You.

May they see Jesus and may they hear Your good counsel. May You grant them, Lord, all that they’ve asked You for. And may You do even more for them than they could ever ask or think. We know, Lord, and believe that You are truly good and always faithful, even as the Scriptures say.

I ask these things in the great Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our true Lord and our King forever. Amen and amen.

Jim