Unanswered Calls and Unanswered Prayers

 

For about 3 years now I have been struggling with unanswered prayers. Sending prayers up and getting no responses, completely ignoring me. It drove me to frustration and disappointment. Even my desire to pray grew cold and seemed useless. For the last couple of days the Lord has been ministering to me concerning my disappointments and helping me to feel better and He renewed my faith concerning prayer and its effectiveness.

This morning I got a glimpse of what it feels like to be God calling to us and getting no response. The Lord God said in Isaiah 65, "I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts." Judgment and punishment came to the whole nation of Israel because the Lord God said, "When I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not hear but did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight."

The same way I felt about my unanswered prayers is how God felt about His unanswered calls. It is as if we saw Him on the Caller ID and refused to answer the phone.

So here we are at war with Coronavirus COVID-19, Racial division and civil unrest. Harmful effects of climate change. Disharmony in our nation's capitol and across our United States.

God called but we did not answer and here we are.

The prophet Isaiah compared the faithful to a small cluster of grapes in a large field that was about to be destroyed. God said, "I will not destroy them all, My faithful servants will be protected and restored. But the nation will suffer and grieve for sorrow of heart."

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Mark 12:30 (NKJV) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.