When God Doesn’t Answer: Trusting the One Who Already Gave Everything
Have you ever prayed for something so consistently, so earnestly, and for so long—only to feel like God has either missed your prayer, misunderstood your request, or somehow decided to answer it with… the exact opposite?
Welcome to the club.
We don’t have matching t-shirts (yet), but we do have tear-stained journals, well-worn Bibles, and a collective longing to make sense of what God is up to.
Waiting with Empty Hands
Recently, I found myself in yet another prayer session with God, presenting the same hope, the same need I’ve been bringing before Him for years. Not weeks. Not months. Years.
But instead of progress or breakthrough, I felt like I was standing in the middle of a spiritual construction zone—surrounded by detours, closed doors, and big signs that read: “Not yet.”
I whispered, “God, I’m still here. I still believe. But… are You even listening?”
Then, in the quiet, I sensed a whisper deep in my spirit. Not a booming voice from heaven, but that gentle, sacred nudge that only comes from the Holy Spirit:
“What if I never did anything else for you beyond giving you My Son?
Would I still be good to you?”
Whoa.
Cue the holy gut punch.
Let That Sink In
If God never did another thing for me—if He never answered that prayer the way I wanted, or in the timing I hoped—would He still be good?
And the answer, when I really sat with it, was humbling and clear.
Yes.
Yes, because He’s already proven His love in the most extravagant, irreversible way possible: by giving His Son for me.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:8 (NIV)
We don’t have to wonder if God loves us. We don’t have to wait for Him to prove Himself.
He already did.
On a cross.
On a hill.
For you and for me.
The Vending Machine God That Doesn’t Exist
I think sometimes we treat God like a vending machine. We type in our selection—"B12: Healing," "C9: Marriage Restoration," or "A1: Financial Breakthrough"—and when what drops out is more like “E7: Character Development Through Crushing Disappointment,” we want our spiritual quarters back.
But God isn’t a vending machine.
He’s a loving Father. He’s not interested in quick fixes that leave us unchanged—He’s committed to eternal transformation.
He’s forming something in you during the wait that you wouldn’t develop if every prayer came wrapped in a Prime envelope, delivered overnight.
“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.”
— Lamentations 3:25–26 (NIV)
Waiting feels like inactivity, but it’s often where our trust muscles grow the strongest.
The Parking Lot Analogy (Because, Why Not?)
Have you ever pulled into a crowded Target parking lot, said a quick prayer for a front-row spot, and immediately seen someone pulling out right in front of you?
Victory! God provides! 🙌
But then other times, you pray the same prayer… and you circle the lot twelve times, end up parking at the furthest corner, and get caught in the rain without your umbrella.
Where was God then?
The answer? Still good. Still with you.
Just less concerned with your parking convenience and more concerned with your perspective.
That parking lot moment is silly, but isn’t it such a metaphor for how we want life to go?
We want answers to line up neatly. We want the breakthrough to pull out in front of us and leave room for us to move forward with ease.
But sometimes the better lesson is found in the long walk back to the car, soaked, frustrated, but clinging to faith.
God isn’t absent. He’s just working in ways we don’t yet understand.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
— Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV)
When the Answer is “Not Yet” or “No”
There’s a mysterious beauty in the fact that our faith is not built on results—it’s built on relationship.
Our trust in God doesn’t rest on what He gives us, but on who He is.
And He is:
Faithful
Loving
Present
Just
Wise
Kind
So what do we do in the meantime?
We worship while we wait.
We trust when we don’t understand.
We remember what He’s already done.
And more than anything, we cling to the cross—because that’s where His goodness was proved once and for all.
A Personal Word to You, Friend
If you’re in a season of asking and not seeing… of praying and not receiving… of hoping and not yet holding—
I see you.
But more importantly, God sees you.
He’s not punishing you. He’s not ignoring you.
He’s shaping something in you that’s more eternal than any temporary fix.
You can trust Him.
He’s already given you the very best—His Son.
And because of that, He will never withhold what is truly good for you.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
— Romans 8:32 (NIV)
So today, let’s choose trust.
Not because we see the answer—but because we see the cross.
Let’s Keep Walking Together
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Let’s wait well together.
With hope,
Lisa