Will Jehovah Answer My Prayers?

 "You will call me ad come to pray to me, and I will listen to you." - Jeremiah 29:12.

"FIND exquisite delight in Jehovah, and he will grant you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) What an amazing promise! But should we expect Jehovah to give us everything we ask for right away? Why might we ask that question? Consider the following scenarios.  A single sister prays about attending the School for Kingdom Evangelizer. But several years go by, and she has still not been invited. A young brother asks Jehovah to be relieved of a debilitating disease so that he can serve in the congregation more fully. But his health does not improve. Christian parents pray that their child will stay in the truth. But their child decides to stop serving Jehovah. 

Perhaps you too have asked Jehovah for something, but you have not received it. As a result, you may conclude that Jehovah answer some prayers but not yours. Or you may reason that you must have done something wrong. A sister named Janice felt that way. She and her husband prayed about their desire to serve at Bethel. She says: "I was convinced that we would be at Bethel in no time." But months turned into years, and the couple still had still not been invited. Janice says: "I felt sad and confused. I wondered what I had done to disappoint Jehovah. I had prayed so specifically for his direction. Why had he not answered by prayer? 

At times, we may wonder if Jehovah is listening to our prayers. Even some faithful men of old had that concern.  (Job 30:20; Psalm 22:2; Habakkuk 1:2) What can convince you that Jehovah will respond to your prayers? (Psalm 65:2) To help answer that question, we will first need to answer the following: (1) What can we expect from Jehovah? (2) What Jehovah expect from us? (3) Why may we need to adjust some of our requests? 

Next time: WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM JEHOVAH? 

From the jw.org publications