Why Isn’t God Answering My Prayers? - Encouragement for Today - January 9, 2020

Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths. [View this email in your browser]( Encouragement for Today --------------------------------------------------------------- January 9, 2020 Why Isn’t God Answering My Prayers? [LYSA TERKEURST]( [Listen to this devotion]( “So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.” [1 Samuel 1:20]( (NIV) Have you ever cried over something so much that you run out of tears? Your swollen eyes just give out and dry up while a current of unrest still gushes through your soul. And you look up toward heaven in utter confusion — “Why isn’t God answering my prayers?” Me too. And there’s someone else in the Bible who was right there as well. She felt provoked and frustrated. Her anguish was so intense that she wept and would not eat. Before the Lord, she cried out in bitterness of soul, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant … then I will …” ([1 Samuel 1:11]( NIV). These words describe and articulate the deep distress of a woman from thousands of years ago, and yet here I sit in modern times relating so completely. They are from a woman named Hannah, found in [1 Samuel 1](. Hannah’s tears over her empty womb were made even more painful by her husband’s other wife, Peninnah. She had many sons and daughters and made sure to rub this fact in Hannah’s face every chance she got. There’s a common thread that weaves through Hannah’s story, and yours and mine. We can all be found desperately wanting something we see the Lord giving to other women. We see Him blessing them in the very areas He’s withholding from us. We look at them and feel so hurt and unfairly set aside. Why them? Why not me? Then the seemingly unjust silence from God ushers us from a disturbed heart to a bitter soul. And we start to feel something that contradicts everything we hold true: If God is good, why isn’t He being good to me in this? And in this moment of raw soul honesty, we’re forced to admit we feel a bit suspicious of God. We’ve done all we know to do. We’ve prayed all we know to pray. We’ve stood on countless promises with a brave face. And still nothing. What do we do when our heart is struggling to make peace between God’s ability to change hard things and His apparent decision not to change them for us? [Continue reading...]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Subscription Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- © 2020 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Encouragement for Today. [Link](