Gerald N. Lund wrote:
To better understand why the Lord has asked that we pray always and not faint, let us walk through what happens to a person of faith when he or she (1) faces a major crisis or turning point in life, (2) begins to pray earnestly for help from God, but (3) receives no answer from the Lord.
When nothing seems to be happening a natural reaction is to ask ourselves why. There are at least three possible answers:
- The Answer is no. In a way that is not a comforting answer, but it is understandable and therefore more easily accepted. We decide that the Lord simply isn’t going to grant our request for whatever reason, and so we just have to accept it. We conclude that no answer means the answer is “no”.
- The Problem is with God. When nothing happens and the situation has great urgency, some individuals get highly frustrated. They turn bitter or angry and conclude, “Either God doesn’t hear me, or He does and He doesn’t care.” Being weak in faith, they turn a little bitter. “Well that’s fine. I’ll show Him! I’ll just stop believing in Him.” Thus they harden their hearts, locking the gate against any spiritual influences.
- I must be the problem here. This reaction most often comes from people of faith, people who not only deeply believe in God, but also have a solid understanding of his attributes. They know that he is perfect. Therefore they have to conclude that He cannot be the source of the problem. That leaves only one possible conclusion. If God is not the problem, then I must be the problem.
If we come to this last significant conclusion, interesting things begin to happen. We begin to ask questions of ourselves, questions like “What am I doing wrong?” “What is there in my life that is blocking the Spirit?” This triggers an inward search, a spiritual inventory as it were. We begin to access where we are in our relationship with God. More important, we begin to change.
We move from questioning the situation to self-examination. Self-examination brings remorse and a resolve to do better. This humility softens our heart and opens it even more to the influence of the Spirit. With that change of heart, the very nature of our prayers begins to change as well. Our prayers will begin to fill with greater power, deeper yearnings, and more righteous petitions, ~Gerald N. Lund, ‘A Year of Powerful Prayer’ (multiple authors), (Deseret Book Company, 2013) p. 258-59).
