How You Can Begin to Heal From Unanswered Prayer

The best way to grow in the prophetic is to look at the past. As backwards as that sounds, Revelation 19:10 tells us, “For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.”

In other translations, this is said, “For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.” The problem is, as we look back at our testimonies and places where we have witnessed Jesus, we can’t help but encounter our unanswered prayers. As we feed our faith with the times that God did it, the times we remember that it seemed like God didn’t do it feeds our doubt.

In his book Undistracted, Bob Goff says, “Doubt is a powerful invitation when you trust that God is big enough to allow your disbelief.”

The subtext is that God doesn’t just allow our unbelief and leave it there. God takes our unbelief and reveals what we’ve been missing of the story. Like stretching out His scarred hands to Thomas, He fills in the gaps we need for unshakable and undivided understanding. We often shrink from our unanswered prayers because they feel at odds with the faith we proclaim, but what if engaging with the Lord on these very painful points is the only way to grow prophetically?

If we don’t understand what God did (or is still doing) in the times that feel unanswered, we cannot become fully convinced in faith of what He wants to do in the future. We must sit with the Lord in the very place of our deepest disappointments and ask God to fill in the gaps of what we don’t see. We must ask God, “what were You doing that I didn’t see … or are You not done with this situation, God?”

What incorrect beliefs am I holding that are connected to these instances? As we allow the band aids to come off and expose our places of past doubt and disappointment, it provides the healing that lets us finally see, with hearts of undivided hope, the future plans to prosper us that God is prophesying over us.

Sara Whitten is an author, speaker, equipper and founder of Arrows of Zion Ministry. She and her husband are pastors for the youth of Impact Christian Fellowship in Kerrville, Texas. Sara is a prophetic writer that is featured on Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, Charisma and more. She hosts “Hear God Every Day” on Charisma Podcast Network, a podcast with tools to help amplify the voice of God amidst the noise of everyday life.