Prayer After Disappointment

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

Why pray, if my prayers are not being answered? Why continue to pray after disappointment?

These are hard and deep-felt questions among many believers who have prayed and sought the Lord’s face and did not see the outcome they were expecting. Why is it that sometimes our prayers seem to be powerful and effective and other times they seem to make no difference at all? I can’t pretend to have all these answers, but I too have experienced deep, fervent prayers that didn’t come to pass. I’ve called out to the Lord from a place of brokenness and desperation, a place where He was my last hope.

And it looked like He failed me…when our newborn son was sick and needed open-heart surgery. We prayed and believed the Lord for our son’s healing and yet he died three days after his surgery.

How do you then pick up the pieces of a relationship with God that’s been totally shattered by grief? How do you even begin to take such a heart-crushing disappointment to the Lord in prayer?

Sweet sister, one small step at a time! 1 Corinthians 1:8 “He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” NIV

You might not be able to pick up all the pieces of your unanswered prayers. In fact, most of us have unanswered prayers and disappointments that will forever change the landscape of our hearts but God is big enough, strong enough, and loving enough to carry us through our brokenness. He desperately wants you to feel His love even in those times of disappointment. He will always be there for you, even when it looks like he hasn’t shown up.

This is a bold statement, especially after we have faced disappointment, but it is a true statement nonetheless.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23,ESV

I think a bigger question to ask is, what does the enemy do when we walk through these disappointments? The book of Revelation calls Satan the accuser of the brethren. “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” Revelation 12:10,NIV

Sweet mom, the enemy wants to take our disappointments and weaponize them to use against us and against our relationship with God. He truly is the accuser of the brethren. He loves to blame the outcome of his evil work on us.

Is he accusing you of not “having” enough faith? Not being holy enough for God to hear your prayer? I know he did this to me. He also sends accusations towards God, “If God really loved you He would have answered your prayer!” Sweet sister, please know that even in a time of brokenness the enemy is still a liar. When he stops our prayers he is trying to stop us from receiving strength and power from God. When the enemy comes to accuse us in our disappointment, when he comes to accuse God in our anger, he’s keeping us from healing. It’s OK to give these hard questions and feelings to God.

Sister, you are blessed and you are strong. Jesus is quieting your disappointment with His love and as you find sanctuary through prayer and one day find sanctuary in the realm of heaven God will answer all of your hard questions.  Continue to pour out your heart to the Lord.

Love,

Emily Walker & The Help Club Team

Emily Walker
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2 Comments on “Prayer After Disappointment”

  1. The death of my husband from Covid has left me with so many whys. Fear of more disappointment of unanswered prayers keeps me praying as I should. Thank you for this post.

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