What happens when our prayers are not heard? Is it that God forgets about us? Have we sinned and we are not worth being heard? Or is God a wicked being that enjoys our pain?

There are times when it seems that our prayers are not heard and many of us stop praying because we feel that God does not answer our prayers and we are convinced that the more we pray the less we will obtain.

We have to remember that prayer is not a magic formula to obtain what we think we need, it is a way of submitting our life to God’s will, it is an encounter with Him. It is important to be aware that the best things we may wish for ourselves cannot be compared with the good things God wants to give us:

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope” (Jeremiah 29, 11).

God wants to give us the best, but God’s time is not our time. When we ask for something it might be that this is not the right time to receive it, or maybe God wants to give us something better, as difficult as it may seem, for example, it is probable that a terminal sick person asks God to heal him/her, and maybe he/she thinks that God does not hear, but it is not like that, most probably God wants to give him/her something much better than physical health, maybe He wants to teach him/her more about forgiveness, love, mercy, about life itself.

Does this mean that we should not ask God for anything because He already knows what we need? No, God likes us to ask for things, He says:

“When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the LORD” (Jeremiah 29, 12-14).

Some people think that when they do not receive an answer to their prayers it is because they have committed a sin; it may be like that in some cases, but we cannot generalize, there are times when we have not sinned and we do not feel we are heard, however we must trust God. He says:

“Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell to you things great beyond reach of your knowledge” (Jeremiah 33, 3).

The best way to confirm this is trying.

“Trust in the LORD and do good that you may dwell in the land and live secure. Find your delight in the LORD who will give you your heart's desire. Commit your way to the LORD; trust that God will act” (Psalms 37, 3-5).

“Learn to savor how good the LORD is; happy are those who take refuge in him” (Psalm 34, 9).

Come on, try and you will see how good the Lord is!

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