When God Leaves Your Prayers Unanswered

Growing up, I have witnessed how crucial religion has become the core influence in the family. Both of my grandparents (mom and dad's sides) have a strong devotion to Catholicism.

And so, I grew up watching my family attending BEC sessions every Saturday and always attending the church every Sunday. It came to me as some sort of tradition and culture that I must practice too. After all, kids learn through imitation or modeling and that's how I followed my parents.

Back then, I didn't really understand who's the guy behind that cross hanging at the center of the church. I was told by my parents that if I do bad things, God will be mad and sad. If I do good things, God will be happy and he will grant my prayers or wishes.

I continued to do good around the people because that's what my parents told me. I didn't realize that my actions when I was younger are just a result of blind faith. Well, at my young age, everything is unclear. I still did not have that kind of understanding that I have now that I have grown up. I was looking for an explanation for everything and now that I have matured, I finally understand how.

My parents taught me to pray for what I need. They told me that when you want something to happen, pray it to God and he'll provide. And so, the innocence of this 7-year-old girl (me) prayed everything that she wanted but she didn't find an answer. I wondered why.

Looking back I have realized that I made bad prayers. I believe there are checklists that God follows before he grants our prayers.

I'll list down the types of prayers that he usually rejects for a reason:

Ignorant prayers.

These are the kinds of prayers where you pray for the sake of praying. I mean, you pray because there is a reason behind it but it's not rational enough for God to grant it.

Usually, ignorant prayers are done by children. This sounds negative but as I have matured, I realized how ignorant my prayers were back when I was younger.

I remember when I was younger, I prayed to become a superhero. I prayed to be one because I just wanted to fly. I wanted to know how it feels to fly. Just how absurd my prayer was, but then again, I was young. Some things are yet to be discovered and understood as you age.

Then again, God works in mysterious ways. Reflect on yourself and think maybe you had prayers in the old days where it was granted in the time being.

Vain prayers.

These are prayers that are too self-centered. There has to be a reason why God doesn't grant our prayers and vanity could be one of them. I get that it's not wrong to think of yourself but if it has become too much and you wouldn't care about the people anymore, then there's a higher chance God won't grant our prayers.

Here's one thing I'll confess here.

I was in 6th grade when I strongly prayed to God for the death of my classmates. I can't believe I prayed that to God. Seriously, it's bullsh*t. How can you pray for someone's death? I didn't realize how evil I was.

I prayed that to God because they are the smart ones in the class. They are candidates for Valedictorian and Salutatorian and I got insecure. God surely didn't grant my prayer because it was evil, vain, and selfish.

I asked for God's forgiveness and I am very embarrassed about what I did.

Wrong prayers.

These are prayers that are not meant for us to happen. That's when the statement "God's plans are better. God's plans are bigger" comes in.

We keep asking for things that we want but when God rejects it, it's his way of saying that that's not what you need. He's avoiding you from that happening because he has plans for you. It's a redirection.

When I harmed myself almost 3 years ago, and when God saved me from death, I realized how much he loved me as his child. I realized a lot of things and I can see in myself how much growth I gained through that experience.

When we pray, we must do something for it as well. We need to walk the talk. We should also do our parts. Do you want to get rich? Do something about it. As long as the trails you follow are just and honest. As long as your conscience is clean.

Praying requires flexibility as well. You know in yourself you have exhausted everything to do your part but still, it's not happening. It's frustrating but we need to open our hearts to the fact that some things don't go according to our plans. That's when you surrender everything to Him. You know that you've done everything you can, and you've done everything you could.

Pray and do your part to make things work. Ask for his guidance.

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Thanks for reading.

Keep safe everyone ❤