How to Pray Article Series: Should I Stop Praying for Prayers that are Not Answered?

by Babes Tan-Magkalas

Unanswered prayer is one of the reasons why people want to know hot to pray effectively. There are two common questions regarding unanswered prayers that people have. These are: Should I stop praying for prayers that are not answered, and if I don't get any results after months of praying, what should I do?

The answer to both these questions is to Pray Persistently. God wants us to pray persistently. A particular example is the life of the apostle Paul. According to 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul had a "thorn in the flesh". It didn't say exactly what he mean by thorn in the flesh but it must have been a chronic and debilitating problem that caused him not to be able to work sometimes. He prayed to God numerous times to take away this "torn" but he never got what he prayed for.

Instead of getting what he was asking for, Paul got something better. Because of persistently praying to God, He hear God's voice and was able to found out God's will. God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."(2 Corinthians:9) Paul also realized that the thorn in his flesh kept him from being conceited. It was hard not to brag about his wonderful spiritual experiences and his excellence in preaching. His "thorn" kept him a humble servant of God. Because of this, he was aware of his weakness and that all the things he achieved was God's doing and not his.

Praying persistently keeps our communication lines with God open. It is an opportunity for God to communicate with us and also, an opportunity for us to hear God. We hear God in silence in moments when we have prayed repeatedly that we have run out of words to say.

Praying persistently is also a way to rely on God for His solution to a problem. We may think that we know the solution to our problems so we pray repeatedly for it but our solution may not be God's solution. God sometimes bends our will in order to match His will. It is only though praying persistently that we realize that we have to let go of our solution and to let God take the reign in our life. If we keep on praying, God will reshape our desires to make it match His desires.

Sometimes though, we have to let go. So how will we be able to know when to let go of our prayers? Personally, what I do is to ask the Holy Spirit to help me discern. I can tell when I still should pray about something when I can pray about it easily that it's almost effortless.

I can tell when it's time to let go when I don't feel at ease when praying that it feels like I'm struggling. When that happens, I release my prayer and thank God for it, knowing the answer to my prayer is on its way.


About the Author
Have you been praying for something for a very long time and still your prayer hasn't been granted? Go to www.how-to-pray-effectively.com and learn how to pray & develop a close relationship with God. Please also visit my blog for the answers to your biggest questions about prayer.