Gary Zimak is the founder of Following The Truth Ministries (http://www.followingthetruth.com), a lay apostolate created to assist Catholics in learning more about their Faith. He is a regular guest on EWTN Radio’s “Son Rise Morning Show”, Ave Maria Radio’s “Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo” and appears frequently on several other Catholic radio programs. In addition to writing for CatholicLane. Mr. Zimak hosts a daily program on BlogTalkRadio and posts frequently on his blog, Facebook and Twitter. He is a member of Catholics United For The Faith and the Knights of Columbus and resides in New Jersey.
According to St. John Damascene, a 6th century bishop and doctor of the Church, “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” St. Thérèse of Lisieux stated, “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
Catholic Ping!
Sometimes, the answer is “NO”.
God answers my prayers. The answer is not always “yes.”
God is not in the business of giving you everything you ask for, and how absurd it would be were it otherwise.
Although I recall a Bible verse that definitely promises us one thing if we seek it and ask for it.
Wisdom.
I was in a Catholic Church during a group prayer. After the prayers were over, a Priest came into the room & told us the group was praying too fast.
The Priest gave us some good prayer advice: God knows all the prayers. God knows what we want & what we need. When we pray we should slow down so we are able to >listen to God. One of the purposes of prayer is to give God the opportunity to transform our hearts.
Other Translations of Isaiah 55:8
¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your wayes my wayes, saith the Lord.
- King James Version (1611)
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD.”
- New American Standard Version (1995)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah.
- American Standard Version (1901)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, or your ways my ways, says the Lord.
- Basic English Bible
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, or your ways my ways, says the Lord.
- Darby Bible
For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
- Douay Rheims Bible
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
- Webster’s Bible
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh.
- World English Bible
For not My thoughts [are] your thoughts, Nor your ways My ways, — an affirmation of Jehovah,
- Youngs Literal Bible
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD.
- Jewish Publication Society Bible
If we pray in Jesus’ name, it doesn’t mean we add those words at the end to make God the Genie do what we demand. To ask for something in someone’s name means to ask it on their behalf. It means that what you are asking will advance the goals and purpose of that other being - in this case, Jesus.
For myself, I’ve started dividing my prayers into two - those things I ask in Jesus’ name, and those I ask...well, because of my wants. I find that if I am honest, that first section is pretty short.
I also find it a bit enlightening to pray, “God, I don’t know if you want this or if it is just my sin nature poking through to the surface...” It changes my expectations entirely, and opens a dialog.
A very wise Priest once told me that is important when you pray to patiently discern God’s Will in the present moment, and that God does answer all prayers. No “ifs,” “ands” or “buts” about it.
“The reason that it works is known only to God and is beyond our understanding.” As children, we were taught that our intellects were feeble instruments when the situation involved divine intervention. Sounds right to me.
Augustinian predestinarianism was a lot more confusing, but that’s another issue.
God does answer prayer - always. Perhaps it is your hearing that is not properly working.
Since the poster left this discussion “Open,” I will offer another, but similar perspective from another religion.
We Mahayana Buddhists pray to the Buddhas mostly for help in our spiritual practices. We ask them to purify our minds of obstructing thoughts, and to bless our minds with helpful thoughts, especially blessings that will ripen latent spiritual tendencies. Our motivation is to become Buddhas ourselves, because only Buddhas can be of the ultimate help in relieving others from their suffering and bringing them pure happiness.
In terms of “unanswered” prayers in this regard, we assume full responsibility: We check our own mind, our motivation, the purity of our request, the obstacles to spiritual progress we can remove on our own, the lack of effort we are making to ripen our latent spiritual tendencies - all of which are simply the results of our own karmic tendencies. We would agree with the Christian tenet that “God helps those who help themselves.”
In terms of prayers made on behalf of others, with an appreciation for the full, complex, eternal sweep of karma, as well as the long and extensive path to achieve Buddhahood, free from all suffering, we offer our prayers with pretty much the same attitude Christians use: “Your will, not my will.” Only Buddhas are omniscient. Only they have the wisdom to see the path each person must take to ultimate happiness, free of all suffering. If we simply pray for such happiness for others, rather than pretending we know the short-term particulars that will get them there, we can rest sure that their needs are being met when we pray.
What if.. “NO” or “You can’t have that” or simply “you ask wrongly”
IS THE ANSWER...
In all fairness, what does one ask God? A lot of humbleness can be earned if someone writes down a single prayer request they want to make and actually think about it for a single day.
Say a loved one is sick. You can go many directions from there, about how they are sick, why they are sick, what treatments exist for them. And you need to ask yourself that this is their life, do you truly want to invoke God to change their life?
People have been designed to be infants, young, adult and old. In their lives they face challenges, success and failure, and the possibility of many different infirmities, some they will overcome, and some they will not. Eventually everyone will physically die.
Do you disagree that this is the way things should be, enough so that you want God to change it?
And back to this being your prayer. Are your motives pure? Or are they because you are afraid of life and death, loneliness and pain, and when you see it in another, it invokes your self-pity and self-importance. Is your prayer to God that may what is happening to them never happens to you?
Are you praying to God for bad or petty reasons?
Perhaps the proper mood for prayer is the belief that it may be the last prayer in your life, so you had better make it a good one.
Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?
Because you don’t understand the nature of prayer.
God always answers our prayers...But sometimes the answer is “no.”
Technically the prayers are not unanswered any more then your child's request for a slice of cake before dinner is unanswered.
"Not now" is an answer.
"No" is an answer.
"I have something else in mind for you" is also an answer.
The most heartbreaking answer God can give for Him and for you is, "I can only offer." Human free will when we are praying for the salvation of a loved one has to be taken into account.
I often wonder why the L-rd put me here.
Maybe He has answered my question but I just haven’t figured it out yet.
Because it’s a prayer, not a demand?