Program / Course 15: The Problem of Evil and Suffering / Lesson 5.5
What you will learn
- Describe the biblical promises about prayer and the biblical cases of prayer that was not granted.
- Explain the main Christian accounts of why prayers are not answered as asked.
- Identify harmful and unhelpful explanations offered to people whose prayers were not granted.
- State how Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant teaching understand the purpose of petition.
The big idea
Scripture promises that God hears prayer and also records prayers that were not granted: Paul asks three times for his thorn to be removed, and Jesus in Gethsemane asks that the cup pass from him. Christians have given several explanations: that prayer is a relationship and not a vending machine, that God answers in wiser ways, that other people’s freedom is involved, and that some requests are wrongly made. Each has some truth and each can be misused. The most helpful teaching treats unanswered prayer as part of the larger mystery of suffering and hope, and not as a puzzle with a neat solution.
Key terms
- Petition
- A prayer that asks God for something, for oneself or for others. It is also called supplication.
- Intercession
- Prayer on behalf of another person.
- Thorn in the flesh
- Paul’s phrase in 2 Corinthians 12:7 for a lasting affliction that God did not remove. Its nature is not stated.
- Gethsemane
- The garden where Jesus prayed on the night before his death (Matthew 26:36-46).
- Conformity to God’s will
- The attitude of asking while accepting that God’s wisdom may answer differently, expressed in Not my will, but thine, be done.
- Prosperity gospel
- A modern teaching that faith guarantees health and wealth. Most Christian traditions reject it.
- Perseverance in prayer
- Continuing to pray without giving up, as Jesus teaches in the parable of the widow and the judge (Luke 18:1-8).
Background
Almost every religious person prays for something that does not happen. A child recovers or does not. A marriage mends or ends. The hardest cases involve illness and death, where prayers were offered by faithful people and were not granted. For many, this is where the problem of evil becomes personal: not why does God permit suffering, but why did he not hear me.
The Bible offers both promises and warnings. Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). He also says, “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22). Yet Jesus himself prays that the cup may pass and it does not. This lesson looks at the whole range of the biblical witness, and asks what the church has taught. It treats those whose prayers went unanswered with care, and does not suggest that anyone failed to pray well.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: What Scripture promises and shows
The promises are real. Jesus says that the Father knows what his children need and gives good things to those who ask (Matthew 7:11). John records the promise to do whatever is asked in Jesus’ name (John 14:13-14). James says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16). The parable of the persistent widow encourages believers to pray and not faint (Luke 18:1-8).
But the Bible is also candid about prayers not granted as asked. David prays and fasts for his sick child, and the child dies (2 Samuel 12:15-23). Jesus in Gethsemane prays, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). Paul writes that he besought the Lord three times that the thorn in his flesh might depart, and received the answer, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). In each case God is heard, but the request is not granted in the form asked.
Step 2: Reasons Christians have given
Writers of the tradition give several reasons. First, prayer is a relationship with a person and not a way of controlling outcomes. God is a wise father who sometimes says no, as a parent does. Second, God may answer in a different way, by giving strength rather than rescue, as with Paul. Third, God’s timing may differ from human timing, and the answer may come later. Fourth, requests may be wrongly made. James says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). John says that God hears when believers ask according to his will (1 John 5:14).
Fifth, prayer does not override the freedom of others. A prayer that a person turn from a harmful path does not remove that person’s choice. Augustine tells in his Confessions how his mother Monica prayed through the night that he would not sail for Italy. He sailed, and in Italy he came under the influence that led to his conversion. He sees in this that God did not grant what she asked in order to grant what she most wanted. The story is often told as a case of wiser answer. It is only one man’s reading of his own life, and may not help in every case.
Step 3: Explanations that harm
Some explanations wound. To tell a bereaved person that the prayer failed for lack of faith puts a second burden on the first. The prosperity gospel, which promises health and wealth to those with enough faith, is rejected by the Catholic, Orthodox and mainline Protestant churches and by many evangelicals, because it contradicts the examples of Paul, of the martyrs and of Christ.
Other careless sayings include that everything happens for a reason, that God needed the person more, or that the sufferer is being tested. Such statements claim to know what only God knows, and they tend to leave sufferers alone. A better pastoral practice is to listen, to pray with the person, to allow lament and not to supply an explanation. The Psalms model this: they ask and complain without an answer in sight.
Step 4: What prayer is for
The Catholic Catechism teaches that Christian prayer is a relationship of children with their Father, in which petition is only one form, alongside adoration, thanksgiving and praise. It also teaches that when prayer seems unanswered, Christians should ask whether they are praying with faith, humility and perseverance, and whether they desire the gift or the Giver. It warns against reducing prayer to a technique.
Orthodox spirituality sees prayer as communion with God, and not as an instrument for obtaining outcomes. The Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, is used for years, often without consolation. Protestants, Reformed and evangelical, emphasize prayer as trust in the sovereign God who hears, and teach that submission to his will is part of faith. Across the traditions, the shared note is that prayer changes the one who prays, and is heard by a God who may answer beyond the request.
Step 5: Unanswered prayer and the problem of evil
For the philosopher, unanswered prayer adds to the evidential problem. If God can act and does not, even when begged, what is the nature of his goodness? Replies already studied apply: God’s wisdom, human freedom, the greater good. Their limits apply too. The larger reply of Christian faith is hope: that God hears every prayer, that he will make all things new, and that no tear is lost. For many believers, this is held in faith, not in sight, and prayers are offered through the dark.
- How do you reconcile Matthew 7:7 with the story of Gethsemane?
- What is the difference between asking for a gift and asking for the Giver?
- Why do you think Paul records God’s answer to his prayer in 2 Corinthians 12:9?
- What are three things you would not say to a person whose prayer was not granted, and why?
- How does the Jesus Prayer treat the question of results?
- What do you think prayer accomplishes if it does not always change outcomes?
Examples
David and his child
King David fasts and lies on the ground for seven days while his infant son is ill. The child dies. David washes, worships and eats, and tells his servants that he will go to the child but the child will not return to him (2 Samuel 12:15-23). The story records both persistent prayer and acceptance.
Monica’s night
Augustine writes that his mother prayed all night that he would not leave Africa. He deceived her and sailed. He later saw that God had refused her request in order to give what she most prayed for, his conversion. He tells it as a sign of wiser answering. It is a story of one household and should not be turned into a general rule.
A constructed hospital room
A family prays for a mother in her sixties with cancer. She dies. A friend says nothing, brings food, and sits in the kitchen with them. They later say that the silence was the best thing anyone gave. The case shows how prayer and presence can go together when no explanation is possible.
Different perspectives
Catholic
The Catechism teaches that prayer is heard by God, who gives what is good for the person, and that the answer may differ from the request. It cites Paul’s thorn and Jesus in Gethsemane. Catholic teaching also encourages asking the saints to intercede, which expresses the solidarity of the church in prayer.
Orthodox
Orthodox teaching holds that prayer is communion and that God knows what people need before they ask. Petition is made with the proviso Thy will be done. The church prays for the sick and the dead, and the faithful ask the saints and the Mother of God for help, trusting in an answer that may not be the one asked.
Protestant
Reformed teaching stresses that God hears and answers according to his wise purpose, and that prayer is a means by which he works. Evangelical and Pentecostal churches often expect healing and may pray with great confidence. Many in those churches warn against teaching that failure to be healed is a sign of weak faith.
Critical and secular views
Critics note that studies of intercessory prayer have found no clear effect on health, and that the practice of explaining unanswered prayer can make belief unfalsifiable. Many believers reply that prayer is not a test of God, and that its main fruits are not measured in this way. Others in the church take the studies seriously and say they should shape how prayer is described.
Why it matters
The question why did God not hear me is among the most common reasons people struggle with faith. A student who knows what Scripture and the tradition actually say can avoid both harsh explanations and false promises, and can pray, and help others pray, with honesty.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: If a prayer is not granted, the person prayed without enough faith.
Correction: The Bible does not teach this. Paul, David and Jesus prayed in faith and were not given what they asked in the form they asked. Blaming the sufferer’s faith is rejected by most churches.
Misunderstanding: God always answers prayer, so there are no unanswered prayers.
Correction: This often means that God always answers, sometimes by saying no or wait. It can comfort, but it can also feel like a dodge. A careful speaker admits that sometimes the answer is not understood.
Misunderstanding: Prayer is only a way of changing the one who prays.
Correction: Some writers emphasize this, but the Bible and the main traditions teach that prayer also affects what God does. Christians differ on how, and they generally affirm both.
Knowledge check
What do Matthew 7:7 and Matthew 26:39 together show?
They show that Scripture both promises that God hears and gives, and records Jesus himself praying that his suffering pass, without receiving it. The prayer in Gethsemane ends with Not my will but thine. Together they teach that prayer is trust in God’s wisdom and not a guarantee of the outcome requested.
How did God answer Paul’s request about his thorn?
Paul asked three times that it be removed. The answer was that grace was sufficient and that strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). The thorn stayed, but Paul received strength and a changed view. The text shows an answer that is not a granting, though many readers still find it hard.
Which explanations of unanswered prayer are harmful?
Claiming that the person lacked faith, that God needed the loved one, or that everything happens for a reason claim to know what only God knows and often wound. The prosperity gospel is rejected by most churches. Better practice is to listen, to pray with the person, and to allow lament without supplying a cause.
What do the traditions say prayer is for?
Catholics teach that prayer is the relationship of children with a Father, of which petition is one part. The Orthodox stress communion with God, as in the Jesus Prayer. Protestants stress trust in the sovereign God who hears. All agree that prayer shapes the one who prays and is addressed to a God whose answer may exceed the request.
Think it through
- Have you prayed for something that did not happen? How did that affect your prayer afterward?
- What would you hope a friend would say to you if your prayer was not granted?
- How is trusting God’s wisdom different from resigning oneself to fate?
Independent assignment
Three prayers
In your own notebook, write about 400 words. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7 to 10, Matthew 26:36 to 46, and 2 Samuel 12:15 to 23 in the King James Version. For each, note what was asked, what happened and how the person responded. Then write a paragraph on what the three have in common. Do not write about a personal loss unless you choose to. Keep the work private.
Further study
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the part on prayer, especially the sections on the battle of prayer.
- Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Read the account of Monica’s prayer and Augustine’s journey to Italy.
- C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain Read the closing chapters for a related reflection.
- Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God Read for a simple account of prayer as presence.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for thee.
- Matthew 26:39 Not as I will, but as thou wilt.
- Luke 18:1 Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.