Why God Doesn't Answer Your Prayers and Other Puzzling Questions We All Have

Life is full of hard questions. Here's an answer to a few of them.

Q. How come God doesn't always answer our prayers?

A. God doesn't always answer your prayers because you may be asking for something unreasonable or that doesn't fit into the plans God has for you. God is like a good parent; he won't let you do something that is bad for you. Asking to win the lottery might sound like the solution to your money woes but it will probably cause you more harm in the long run than working hard for a living.

Another reason God might not answer your prayers is because you took the credit for the answer. Pulling off that big job or saving your marriage. The expression "all glory goes to God" means you have to give God credit for answering your prayers or he may not answer the next one. And, sometimes the lack of an answer is your answer.

Q. Why do people kill in the name of God?

A. Unfortunately there are people who lose the meaning of what God is saying to us. The Old Testament in the Bible has stories about God helping the Jews fight off their enemies. They win because God is squarely on their side. The problem comes when people today think God is telling them to fight for him. God can fight his own battles. He can win them too!

After God made a new covenant or agreement with us, each of us became responsible for our own outcome. We win the battle by choosing to follow God, and conversely, lose it by not choosing God. And if we don't choose God, by default we've chosen to follow the devil. Scary thought isn't it?

Q. If God exists, why is life so difficult and why is there so much suffering in the world?

A. God is not the one who makes us suffer. God is the one who saves us from the suffering. It's ironic how most people wait until their lives are so bad or they are so miserable they want to end it all before they even consider that God might be able to help. God is available to us 24 hours a day, every day of the year, even on holidays and weekends. God will help you when you call on him, but he won't step in unless you ask.

The devil is the one who brings suffering. His only job is to literally make our lives hell so we'll turn away from God. The devil also tempts us with all sorts of pleasures too but as many people soon find out, those pleasures ruin their lives and bring suffering through loss of jobs, relationships, dignity and even our lives. Once God banishes the devil, all suffering will end.

Q. Why doesn't God just banish the devil right now?

A. As bad as this sounds, God and Satan entered into a kind of bet and we are the prize. Thousands and thousands of years ago, Satan bet God that he could turn us away from God, so God decided to give him a little time to see what would happen.

If you look at what's going on in the world, you might be convinced Satan has won. But more people than ever are turning back to God after trying Satan's pleasures and finding them lacking the one thing every human craves–love. I think we have a God hunger that cannot be satisfied by anything else and that all humans will eventually come back to God.

Q. Why does God cause bad things to happen to good people?

A. God never punishes us. The bad things always come from the devil–Satan. Satan's whole job is to get us to turn away from God so he uses the things that work the best–suffering, pain, tragedy, loss, death. All of this suffering wears us down if we don't have any help. God is there to help.

Your suffering may not end right away but suddenly there is someone else sharing the suffering with you. This is a difficult concept for most people to understand. Why doesn't God just fix it? Mostly God doesn't fix it because we don't learn anything from it. It's like a child who gets in trouble, if the parents always swoop in and fix it right away, the child doesn't learn the lessons. We are the same way.

If you've never had severe financial struggles, how can you have sympathy for someone who does? God wants us to be available to help others so we all have to struggle with something in order to be there to help someone else. Usually the most compassionate people have had the most suffering in their lives. Be thankful for whatever suffering you are going through because it prepares you to help someone else.

Q. Why are some Christians so judgmental? And why do they act so holy but aren't?

A. On the whole, most Christians are less judgmental than the average person is. Some people run into Christians who are not really saved or who are early in their journey with God so they appear to be very judgmental. Just like any other person, there are Christians who are kind, compassionate, smart, funny, goofy, serious, plodding, fussy, messy, quiet, loud, fair and yes, judgmental. Everyone travels a different road to being a better person. Some people take longer to get there than others. Some of the most judgmental Christians are actually much less judgmental than they were before being a Christian. That's all we can hope for–that they'll get less judgmental with every passing day.