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| Praying |
Why does my prayers seemingly go unanswered?
It is a question that many Christians ponder--"Why is God not answering my prayers?"
Firstly it is important to understand that our own will and desires are often quite different than God's will for us. While here on earth we cannot fully see or understand God's will, and so it is that we can often pray for something that is contrary to what God wills for us.
Yet, when we study the lives of the Saints, we can see how God gives us signs to discern His holy Will in our lives. The Saints show us how "man proposes, but God disposes". What this means is that when we unite our prayers with our actions for a specific intention, God will arrange things according to His holy will--whether it be in union with our desires and intentions, or not. In this way He always answers our prayers--just not always in the waywe desire and hope for.
The reason for this? We must first begin by realizing that Jesus always does what is best for our souls, most particularly for the salvation of our souls, and He will not grant any prayer that will harm our souls, or the souls of those whom we pray for.
St Padre Pio once said that "every grace has to be paid for" and what he meant by this is that with great graces comes also great sufferings along with them. And if in our weakness we cannot handle great sacrifices or sufferings, or if great sufferings would draw us away from Jesus instead of closer to Him, then of course He will not grant the great grace(s) that we are asking for, because it is not beneficial for our souls.
Jesus hears all of our prayers and He arranges things in our lives according to His holy will and what is best for our souls. And looking over our lives, if we are attentive we will see His actions in the small, little everyday things. He opens a door here, and He closes another door there--all for the good of our souls.
Rarely in our lives will Jesus work extraordinary miracles or give us extraordinary graces, because we cannot handle the extraordinary sufferings or sacrifices that often accompany them. But He is always there alongside us, helping us, encouraging us and watching us, although we do not see Him and often we do not recognize His everyday graces and His action in our daily lives.
And so this is why in the Gospel of Mark Jesus said: "For what good would it do a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?" If for example Jesus was to answer certain prayers and miraculously cure this person or that person for example, afterwards would the cured person be always grateful and strive with all of his/her heart to become a saint, or would they soon return to their former way of life after having being given such a extraordinary grace?
And then too, as St Padre Pio once pointed out, such extraordinary graces such as miraculous cures etc. have to be "paid" for, because the majority of souls do not receive such extraordinary graces, so Divine justice normally demands such "payment" when miraculous graces are granted. This is why great miracles often surround the great Saints. Those about them may receive the miracles and extraordinary graces, but it is often the Saint that "pays" for them in great sufferings. Who then among us can handle and benefit from such extraordinary sufferings and sacrifices that would be required to obtain an extraordinary cure for example, all the while drawing closer to Jesus without complaint, and not turning away from Him in their pain and suffering?
And so given these points, should we still wonder why Jesus does not grant our prayers that ask for extraordinary miracles and graces that often?
The free will that God has given us allows us to freely make choices in our lives, according to the intentions in our hearts. Each day He sends us many graces, most of which seem very natural and go unnoticed. Because of our free will, He veils not only His will for us, but also His presence is unseen by us, though He is always very near to us. A child will always on his best behavior when he sees that his parents are watching him. And this is why Jesus normally always hides Himself from us in our lives. He wants to see how we behave in our daily lives when we are not aware of His presence, because it is then that we show Him what we are TRULY made of by our daily actions, that is, whether we love others out of love for Him, or not. And we must realise that He answers all of our prayers in the manner that is best for our souls and our salvation, according to His will for us.
-Lord Jesus crucified, have mercy upon us. Most Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!