In my church days I heard many Christians stand in church and quote this scripture found in the book of Psalms, often AFTER they have received some good in their lives or AFTER giving some heart wrenching account in an attempt to psyche themselves up that some answer to a desperate prayer will come to pass. But let’s be honest here for a minute. How many of us either from observation or personal experience have been on the “forsaken” end of a prayer? Now because we are fashioned to believed that God DOES answer prayer and that he is supposedly faithful, there is NO way we can believe or even approach the blasphemous thought that God did not answer a prayer. After all, he is supposedly there listening to these prayers, right?

Now with these pre-conditioned notions in mind, when a prayer is not answered (at least the way we want it to be), we have to reason away the reality and blame ourselves or excuse God with words like:

1. “God knows best”
2. “God’s ways are higher then our ways.”
3. “Perhaps I’m praying amiss.”
4. “By not answering my prayer, God is really answering my prayer.”
5. “It’s because I have sin in my life” OR to observers, “God is not answering your prayers because you are not living right.”
6. “I am not praying with enough faith.”

It was Jesus, ACCORDING the the Gospels that claimed Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” Now the apologist will say, “well God did not really forsake him because look at how things turned out.” Didn’t Jesus, of al people, know better then? He supposedly knew all, some say he was God himself, so he was not aware that God did not forsake him even if it seemed that way at the time?

Many a praying parent have watched their ill child die before their eyes. Many a believing soul with more faith than a mustard seed have watched the cancer rip through their bodies, speeding them toward death despite their frantic and sincere prayers even if they’re 25 with life laid out ahead of them. Prayers for much needed money to pay the mortgage have fallen on apparent deaf ears. Hey, but what do I know. God knows best, right? It’s not his fault. The fault must lie with us.