Am currently reading a book called "When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer" by Jerry Sittser. a gift from my tomodachi leslie. the book addresses the problem of unanswered prayer, even when we so desparately need a sign from God.

when bad things happen, desparation drives us to our knees, but that is also the time when God sometimes remains silent.

one question that popped up in the early part of the book was "What if God had answered all my prayers?"

it hit me then. all along, i realised that i have prayed as though i expect an answer from God. it isn't wrong, for it shows my faith and trust in Him... but have i ever reflected on what i prayed for?

in Bruce Almighty, jim carrey had the chance to be god for a week. in order to manage the millions of prayers ringing in his mind, he set up an e-mail system (called Yahweh!, a spoof of Yahoo!) to manage the prayers. he couldn't answer all one by one, and gave a YES to every prayer without reading them. as a result, on the next lottery strike, people ended up with $17 as their winnings.

whenever we pray, we must not forget that we come before the Lord as a sinner. sin creeps into our prayers when we pray out of pride or pray for victory. what if both sides prayed for a victory? what would God do then? we tend to forget that victory on our side occurs at the expense of someone else. does victory necessarily mean that God has answered you and rejected the other? what if your victory wasn't a blessing from God? what's favourable to us may not be so in the bigger perspective of the Lord.

sometimes spiritual power, which directly comes from the Lord, and we are able to exercise through prayer, can also become corrupt if the Enemy messes with us. have we asked for superficial, selfish and prideful things that would do us more harm than good? could we see answered prayers as a problem and unanswered prayer as a gift instead?

of course sometimes we pray with pure and genuine intentions. we pray for the healing of a cancer-stricken child, for the reconciliation of a broken family, for poverty-stricken nations, for wisdom and guidance to be blessed upon missionaries. however, even if these prayers get no reply from the Lord, we must continue to stand fast in our faith and trust that the Lord knows what is best for us. He made us, and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our hearts too, and hears our cries. He's always there, and when we think otherwise, the problem lies with us. Even if you are in pain, and God seems to be silent, be assured that no pain of yours have gone to waste, and in time, you will see yourself gaining once again.

bless you! and you! and you! =)

11:19 AM |blessed.