When Prayer Does Not Work

  1.  Let’s talk about prayer. Prayer is not a vending machine. When a vending machine doesn’t work, we get upset and go somewhere else to find what we want. God is a person, not a machine. A machine is made for us, God is not, rather, we are made by him and for him.

Prayer is not like paying God for what we want, as if God were the owner at a nearby convenience store. God is our Father, and prayer is like talking to Him, asking Him for what we want, for what we think we need.

It is easy to know when people relate to us, not because they care about us, but because they need something from us. True, we cannot expect everyone to reach out to us out of love, as if they were family; but we do expect it from our own family. God is our Father; we belong to His family. The way we ask things from Him matters to Him. Even when we ask things from God, it has to be personal. For example, if He sees that you approach Him with confidence, knowing that He loves you and wants the best for you, He will surely give you what you need, when you need it.

Prayer is not like Google, or like an AI, that gives you information just because you ask for it. God does not give you everything you ask, just because you ask. God’s intelligence is not experimental or subject to error, like an AI. God knows you and knows that you are different. An AI knows what things you buy and what videos you watch; God knows what makes you truly happy, He knows your fears and hopes better than anyone.

Human beings made the AI, God made you. Some people treat AI as a coworker, or even as a friend. God has adopted you as a true son or daughter. An AI serves you because this is what is made for, God serves us because He wants, and He wants to be loved in return.

2.  Sometimes we get upset because “prayer does not work.” But I tell you, sometimes it is better for us to wait. If God gave us immediately what we want, we probably would forget Him very quickly. Forgetting God is not good for us. God does not want to be forgotten by His children. But how many people remember God only when they are in trouble! How can we grow in God’s love if we barely remember Him, if He is not a relevant part of our lives? How can we grow in love if we do not persevere in prayer?

3.  True prayer is an exercise of love, precisely because it is personal. Prayer is not something between you and what you need, prayer is something between you and God. It is raising your spirit to God, perhaps, yes, to ask for something you need, but maybe also to give Him thanks, or just to tell Him that He is wonderful and you love Him. We also pray for forgiveness, to tell God that we are sorry for our sins and that we wish we would have never offended Him.

4.  -  Prayer is like the gym of God’s love. When God does not give you at once what you want, it is, perhaps, because He enjoys hearing your voice and wants you to keep talking to Him… He wants you to love Him more: the more you talk to Him with confidence, the closer you get to Him and the more He loves you. This is why persevering prayer helps us grow in love.

-  Perseverance helps us grow also in faith. In fact, when God does not grant our request immediately, we have to believe that He heard our prayer, even if it does not seem so; we have to believe that He loves us and has not abandoned us, even if it does not seem to be that way. These acts of faith are difficult: they not only make us grow in faith but also have a great reward.

-  Perseverance in prayer, finally, helps us grow in hope. Hope is about what you have not yet obtained, but at the same time you know that you will get it because God is merciful. When you keep praying despite the fact that you have not yet received, it is because you expect from God with certainty what you need. You know that God is loving and merciful and, therefore, you hope to obtain from Him whatever is good for you, whenever is good.

Let us talk to God more… Prayer overcomes loneliness, and it also gives human beings a love and a friendship that no fellow human being can provide. Prayer gives the only true reassurance in life. Prayer is the source of true rest, a wellspring of consolation, a mine of answers. Prayer is not a boring way of getting things, but the only way to find happiness in this life and eternal salvation in the next. Prayer is personal. And, if you do not know how to start, just say, “Our Father,” etc., trying to mean what you say. And if you don’t understand what you say, ask Him what it means; and if He does not answer, ask Him why He doesn’t. And keep bothering Him until He says something. And if you don’t hear anything, ask yourself if He has not already spoken to you, perhaps as a child, perhaps in the Scriptures, perhaps through your parents, or through a priest… And if you have not yet answered, respond to Him today.