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In the face of unanswered prayer, how are we to understand such passages?
There is a limit implied in the very statements, which is expressed in plain terms in
I John 5: 14, 15:--
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to
His Will, He heareth us; and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."
Where the statements in the Gospels cited above have "believe", the passage from
I John 5: has "we know", because the petition is "according to His will". It is, therefore,
most important that we should keep to the scriptural idea of faith, namely, that it is
intimately associated with the Word of God, and that God will keep His promise
(Rom. 10: 17, and 4: 18-21). Whoever "believes" this will not ask anything contrary to
the will of God, and whoever uses the word "believe" in a sense which is contrary to this
principle makes it something not far removed from a charm or mascot.
Moses experienced the truth of this relationship of prayer with the will of God when
he prayed:--
"Let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, and that goodly
mountain Lebanon. But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear
me" (Deut. 3: 25, 26).
Samuel cried unto the Lord all night when he heard of the rejection of Saul, but the
Lord said to Samuel:--
"How long will ye mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him?" (I Sam. 15: 11, 16: 1).
Other examples could be given to illustrate this truth. We return, therefore, to our
earlier question. If this be so, What is the use of prayer? Scripture does not shelve but
deals with his most important question. For example, Ezek. 36: contains many
wonderful promises dealing with the restoration of Israel, things bound up with the very
faithfulness of God, as, for instance, the promises of restoration in verses 8-12, 26-28,
and the promises ending with the unconditional statement of verse 36:--
"I the Lord have spoken it, and I WILL DO IT."
Do we then say, What is the use of prayer? If we do, there must be something wrong
with our conception of prayer, for the very next verse says:--
"Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do
it for them."
There can be no possibility of misunderstanding the teaching here. The Lord does not
say that Israel will be restored only if they inquire about it. On the contrary, in His own
time and way, according to that purpose that cannot be frustrated and which He has
pledged Himself to fulfil, the Lord declares that He will do this thing:--