As a Christian, do you ever feel like your prayers are not being answered?

Are you asking God for a new job . . . for the 18th month in a row? Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. See full disclosure here.

Is your wayward child still refusing to go to church . . . despite your pleas to the Almighty?

Does your financial picture put you in jeopardy and your house is STILL on the market?

I suppose the Israelites were feeling about like you are feeling right now regarding conquering Jericho.

God continually gave them promises about conquering the land and now they were camped outside of Jericho, but all human evidence showed that it would not be possible to get into the double-walled city.

These just weren’t ordinary walls – the outside wall was 30 feet high and the inside one was 40 feet high AND they were 14 – 15 feet wide too! Definitely they were humanly protected.

But the Israelites were praying for victory and seeking God for His plan.

Then a funny thing happened: God gave Joshua a very obscure battle plan and that was to march around the city once each day for six days with the 7 priests out in front blowing their trumpets while the rest of the people marched in silence. Then on the seventh day, they were to march around seven times and after the seventh time, they were to shout and the walls would come down. (Read the whole story in Joshua 6.)

I wonder what it felt like marching around those walls each day. I can imagine that they felt pretty foolish.

They might have wondered “What good is this going to do?” “This is my idea of conquering a city . . . NOT!”

But, they obeyed. They obeyed to a T. And they had faith that as they obeyed, and persevered, God would indeed come through for them in His own time.

They also might have been expecting cracks to start appearing in the walls on day 3 maybe. But no – nothing changed until day seven!

Sure enough, on day 7, those massive, impenetrable walls came tumbling down.

That is the SAME God that we serve.

Whatever walls are in your life right now that you need to see tumbling down might eventually come down . . . or they might not. Either way, God is still in control.

I have been reading Laura Story’s When God Doesn’t Fix It: Lessons You Never Wanted to Learn, Truths You Can’t Live Without [affiliate link]. It is her own story of tragedy and trials with her husband’s brain cancer. Check it out for more help in the area of unanswered prayer.

Don’t give up praying because you think your prayers are not being answered. Luke 11 gives some great teachings on persisting in prayer. “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.”

As a parent, you know what is best for your children and sometimes what they want is not what is best for them. Maybe they ask you to stay up late, but you have to say no because that is not best for them and their well-being.

God knows what you need best too and perhaps He is allowing this season in your life to teach you lessons of dependence on Him that you might not have learned otherwise. God is growing you and training you in righteousness. (See Hebrews 12.)

Psalm 112 says “Light arises in the darkness for the upright . . . For he will never be shaken . . . His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”

I don’t know His reasons for what you are going through. But I DO know His heart. You have to trust God’s heart during the times when you can’t trust His hand.

His heart can always be trusted even when you are wondering about your unanswered prayers.

First published: August 2012

Updated: July 2019