Through faith and trust, God does answer prayers

This week I received an email about someone who was confirmed with me in 1967 in Gainesville, Fla. The email was from family asking for prayer for this lady I knew as a young girl. I prayed for her, but I have since received news that she passed away.

On the other hand, we have recently prayed in our congregation for people who were not responding to medical care. But after our prayers their condition improved. Even doctors were surprised. God got credit for improvement and healing in more than one recent situation after our prayers.

So, do you ever wonder why it seems God answers some prayers but not others. This doesn’t just happen in the lives of those around us, it happens in our lives, too. In fact, even Jesus faced a similar situation. In Lenten worship this week we read from Mark 14 about Jesus praying: “ … he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’”

We know the cup of suffering and death did not pass from Jesus. So, did God the Father ignore the prayer of God the Son?

God hears all prayers and answers them. He did not answer the prayer of Jesus the way that he prayed at the beginning of his prayer. He did answer the end of Jesus’ prayer “not what I will, but what you will.” Actually, God’s answer to Jesus’ prayer accomplished God’s will. It accomplished our forgiveness. God’s answer gives heaven to all who believe in Jesus. So God did answer Jesus’ prayer, even though his suffering and death was not taken away.

Some might disagree. When our life doesn’t work out the way we ask in prayer, how can we say God is answering? It takes faith to see God answering a prayer when things don’t go as we wish. But faith trusts that God is wiser than we are. Faith trusts that God is stronger than our problems. Faith also trusts that in all things, God works good for those who love him. Faith trusts that even in our troubles, God is working for the greater good he sees.

I am thankful for the account of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. God’s answer to that prayer overcame our greatest problems of sin and death. I like what Father Tim said in the Mitford books when he talked about “the prayer that never fails — not what I will, but what you will.” God’s will always shows wisdom and love. Because of God’s wisdom and love, I can trust God’s answer, even when it seems different than my prayers.

Jonathan Rockey is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer.

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