Blessed are those whose prayers have not been answered

I have a friend who prayed for months that God would do something about a noisy neighbor keeping her awake at night. (I am sure her prayers were something like this: ‘God can’t you make him be quiet’; or ‘God, why don’t you make him move?’) But last I heard from her, the neighbor is still noisy and she is still waiting for God to answer her prayer.

I call unanswered prayer a divine mystery. On one hand, Jesus said “if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it to you” (Jn. 16:23). But Scripture also gives examples of men and women of faith who endured pain, suffering, torture, even horrible death… and died without ever receiving the promise (Heb. 11:36-39)—their prayers of deliverance seemingly unanswered.

The writer of Hebrews tells us God had something better for them. We expect God’s answers to be “yes” or “no.” But in doing so, we limit God to human logic. Have you considered that God’s answer to your prayer is I have something better for you? “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9). There really is no such thing as unanswered prayer: unanswered prayer is an oxymoron! God always answers you—but in His time and in His way. If God does not answer “yes” or “no,” it is because He has something better for you.