Perhaps you’ve prayed about something for a long time, maybe even years, and it feels as if God hasn’t heard your prayers. The Bible tells us to “ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7), “if we ask anything according to His will” (1 John 5:14, NKJV). What is your understanding of these promises?

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

Hannah is an example of a devoted woman who prayed for something very specific (1 Samuel 1:10-17). At first it seemed that God did not answer her prayers, but she persisted, and God did answer, in His perfect time and according to His will. Sometimes the waiting deepens our walk with God, as we learn to trust Him more.

Psalms 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (NKJV). Trust. Do we trust that He really does know what’s best, even when we don’t see an immediate answer to our prayers? Do we trust that eventually He will answer in His perfect time and way?

Sometimes our prayers may not be answered as quickly as we want or in the manner that we hope they will be. What counsel does the Bible give us about this?

• Seek God’s will, not your own (Matthew 6:10; 1 John 5:14-15).

• Consider your motives (Proverbs 16:2, James 4:3).

• Think about whether you have a cherished sin (Psalms 66:18, 1 Peter 3:12, Proverbs 15:29).

• Abide in God and in His Word (John 15:7).

• Have faith when you pray (Hebrews 11:6, James 1:6, Mark 11:24, Matthew 21:22).

• Consider the state of your heart (humble or proud) (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:6).

• Persevere (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).

• Forgive others (Mark 11:25-26).

• Ultimately, God sees the big picture and knows what is best for us (Romans 8:28, Ephesians 3:20, Jeremiah 29:11-13). Sometimes His answer merely is as it was for Paul: “ ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ ” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV).

A key fact that determines our response to what seems like unanswered prayers is our picture of God. If we see God as distant and disinterested, our relationship with Him weakens. In such times, search the Bible for evidence of His love and care for you, and pray that your distorted picture of Him will become clearer.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Key Text: “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8, NKJV).

Read in Class: 1 Kings 19:1-18.

Study: What is at the heart of Elijah’s dejection here? How is God’s response different from what happened at Mount Carmel?

Apply: God, our good and kind Father, knows exactly what you need. How can you be still enough to trust Him and keep your eyes steadfast on Him through it all?

Share: When talking to a friend who feels like God is always telling her, “No,” how can the passage we just studied help you share how God loves us even when telling us, “No?” After all, when Elijah asked to die, did God tell Elijah, yes, wait, or no? For a hint, see 2 Kings 2.

Read in Class: Matthew 6:5-15 and Luke 11:2-4.

Study: What interesting things do you notice about Jesus’ prayer?

Our Father in heaven: Acknowledging your personal relationship with the Father of all.
Hallowed be Your name: Recognizing God’s holiness makes us come in reverence and respect.
Your kingdom come: Longing for God’s return and an indwelling of the Holy Spirit until He does so.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven: Surrendering and praying for God’s will to be done in our lives, trusting that He knows best, rather than merely praying for what we want.
Give us this day our daily bread: Asking for what we need to live, both physically (food and water) and spiritually (Jesus and His living Word).
Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us: Repenting, seeking forgiveness, and remembering to pardon those who have hurt us as freely as God forgives us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Asking for protection and shelter from the evil in this world (Psalm 91).
For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen: Acknowledging that all we are, all we have, and all we do belongs to God. He alone deserves our glory and praise (1 Chron. 29:11).
Apply: How do your prayers compare to Jesus’ prayer? For example, giving us (not just me) our daily bread and forgiving us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us?

Share: Your friend asks why some people pray such long public prayers in church, when all of Jesus’ public prayers were very brief? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Daniel 9:4-19.

Study: Where do you find praise, thanksgiving, confession, and forgiveness, as well as requests, in Daniel’s prayer?

Apply: What things do you need to praise God for, confess to Him, request from Him, and to thank Him for? Why not do it right now?

Share: Can you explain how Daniel’s prayer illustrates humility rather than pride in prayer?

Read in Class: Romans 8:26-27.

Study: What kinds of weaknesses is Paul referring to and how does the Holy Spirit help with those weaknesses?

Apply: How does “groanings which cannot be uttered” help you understand the communication between us, the Holy Spirit, and the Father?

Share: Can you share any examples of people in the Bible who did not know exactly how to pray, or had prayers answered in ways they did not expect?

Mission: Can you text some of your phone contacts this week and simply ask how you can pray for them, and then, of course, pray for them?

Faithful Elijah lived in evil times, with King Ahab doing more “to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:33, NKJV). By far the most dramatic moments in Elijah’s life came with the confrontation at Mount Carmel (see 1 Kings 18:1-46). At the climax of this incredible story, Ahab and his kingdom saw with their own eyes the truth that God answers prayer. This was an unforgettable moment in Israel’s history and is why the sudden change of events in this story catches us by surprise.

Image © Providence Collection at Goodsalt.com

Throughout the course of one day, although God answered every one of Elijah’s prayers, the prophet’s emotional, mental, and physical state soon shifted. Although Elijah had experienced a great victory with God that day, he had, in a moment of weariness, allowed the fear of death to overcome his faith in God. What is so striking about this story is that, although Elijah gave in to despondency and discourage­ment, God came to him in tenderness and care, providing food and water again (1 Kings 19:5-6)—so much so that he lasted for 40 days and 40 nights (1 Kings 19:8). And when God finally revealed Himself, it was in a very different manner than He had before.

Sometimes in our lives, God answers in very direct, powerful, and undeniable ways. This strengthens our faith, and we feel the closeness of God in our lives.

Other times we waver and give in to temptation, thinking that it’s too hard to follow God with unswerving faith. We look for God’s answers in ways we expect Him to respond, not realizing that His thoughts and ways are far higher and wiser than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9). Just as there is much about God’s creation that we don’t understand, we shouldn’t be surprised that there is much about God’s ways that we don’t understand either.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study:

1 Kings 19:1-18; Matthew 6:5-8; Luke 11:2-4; Matthew 6:5-15; Daniel 9:4-19; Romans 8:26-27.

Memory Text:

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalms 62:8, NKJV).

What is your prayer life like? How often do you pray? How fervently? How expectantly? Do you pray daily or only in emergencies? Are your prayers always asking for something, or do you praise God in your prayers, as well?

Also, do you find yourself offering a prayer in the morning before you eat and perhaps partway through your busy day? Perhaps you’ve been part of a regular prayer group or even experienced what it’s like to pray around the clock. Have you experienced the power and presence of God through prayer that changes everything in your life?

Prayer is the constant connection between us (the branches) and Jesus (the Vine). “If we would grow and flourish, we must continually draw sap and nourishment from the Living Vine; for separated from the Vine we have no strength.”—Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 73. This is the blessing of abiding prayer. God hears us, and He always answers in His time and in His perfect way—though not always in the way we might expect.

This week let’s study other praying individuals in the Bible and consider practical ways to strengthen prayer in our daily lives.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 16.

Sunday–>

Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering, will support projects in Kenya and elsewhere in the East-Central Africa Division. Read more about Rompas next week, and watch a YouTube video of him at bit.ly/Rompas-IS.

The pastor told Rompas, a Maasai boy in Kenya, that Seventh-day Adventists were devil worshipers. He also said Adventists entered church backward on Saturdays and worshiped without wearing any clothes.

Image © Pacific Press

When he was 16, Rompas decided to find out if the pastor had told the truth. Early Saturday, he walked from his village home to an Adventist church several miles away. He hid in the hills near the church and watched.

Before long, the first person arrived. The man was not walking backward, and he wasn’t naked. Rompas was impressed that the man was wearing a nice suit and tie. The boy wished that he had a suit and tie. He was half-naked, wearing only a traditional Maasai shuka, a red cloth with black strips.

Then the pastor and other church members arrived. They also did not enter the church backward, and they were nicely dressed.

Then the church choir began singing. As the words of the song “Oh Happy Day” drifted to Rompas’s ears, he couldn’t resist. Walking to the church, he sat in the back row and listened with great interest.

After the sermon, a young white man approached him. He was a missionary from the United States whom he had never seen before and never saw again. The man spoke with the help of an interpreter. “These are your pants,” he said, handing Rompas a pair of pants with many pockets.

Rompas was excited! He had never owned a pair of pants. He put them on and tore his shuka to make a belt to hold them up.

Back at home, his 82 brothers and sisters were surprised to see the Maasai boy wearing pants. They surrounded him and asked, “What happened?”

Rompas placed the prized pants under his bed that night. He only wore them again when he returned to church the next Sabbath. Putting on the pants attracted the attention of the children and women of his village every Sabbath. Some of them began to follow him to church.

Several months passed, and Rompas and his mother gave their hearts to Jesus in baptism on the same day. The first two members of a family of nearly 100 people had become Seventh-day Adventists. Rompas felt free for the first time in his life. Jesus told His disciples, “ ‘And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ ” (John 8:32, NKJV).

“The truth has set me free,” Rompas said in an interview.

Ultimately, we should pray because we love God so much, and we just can’t help sharing everything in our lives with Him: our joys and life’s “wins,” our burdens and worries, our requests and daily needs.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. . . . His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. . . . The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, Pages 99, 100.

Discussion Questions

Summary: As we read about the prayer giants of the Bible, it can be easy to think that we can’t have a relationship that close to God or be quite as committed. But we can. Like Daniel, we can be steadfast and faithful in kneeling every day, despite opposition. Like Enoch, we can choose to walk and talk with God, turning to Him before we do the work He’s called us to do. Like Moses, we can lead those within our sphere of influence, interceding for our families and those in our com­munities when we choose to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, our Leader and Friend.

<–Thursday