The problem of unanswered prayer

Philip Barron shares an understanding of prayer

by Philip Barron 18th February 2011

Prayer can take many forms but, if we pray at all, petition can be one of the most puzzling. The Bible is full of unanswered prayers. ‘O my God’, cries the Psalmist, ‘I cry in the day-time, but thou answerest not; and in the night season, and am not silent’ (Psalm 22). St Paul prays often that his ‘thorn in the flesh’ be taken away, but is compelled to make the best of it and to let it make the best of him.