October 22 -- "Saul's Unanswered Prayer"

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 28 & 29

"Saul's Unanswered Prayer"

Saul received no answer. The Lord didn't say "yes." The Lord didn't say "no." Not even “maybe.” Just silence. The Lord did not answer him. King Saul was terrified of the Phillistine armies which had gathered in great numbers to fight against Israel. He recognized that he needed God’s help to defeat this strong enemy. So he prayed. He inquired of the Lord. But the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. The Lord was silent.

Saul, as we have seen, was far from God. After starting out well with humility and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Saul had drifted away from God. He let pride and selfishness cloud his relationship with God. He no longer sought God or worshipped Him. But now he is in trouble, so his first instinct is to turn back to the Lord and inquire of Him. So often we see people who have not submitted themselves to the Lordship of Christ and have no relationship with Him turn to Him in times of crisis. It seems to be a natural human instinct in times of great distress to seek God’s help. Yet, the stark reality is that many of these prayers go up toward God but He does not listen.

The Lord did not answer Saul. Why? I think we can find the answer to this in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Saul had built up a wall between himself and the Lord – a wall of sin, pride, and disobedience. This wall was blocking his communication channel with the Lord. In reality, his prayers never made it to God’s ears. He did not hear.  “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-3)

There are many reasons for unanswered prayer. Sometimes God simply wants us to wait. Other times, He has an alternative plan to reveal to us. Still other times, His answer is simply “no.” But in this case, there was no answer at all because Saul’s sins prevented God from hearing him. Tragically, instead of dealing with the sin and pride issues in his heart, Saul made the sad mistake of turning elsewhere for answers. He turned to the dark spirits, calling on mediums and necromancers (a conjurer who supposedly communicates with the dead).

For the follower of Christ, when our prayers seem to be unanswered, we must make sure that our hearts are right with God. That we are not harboring any unconfessed sin or pride or iniquity in our heart. Having confessed and forsaken our sins, we must trust fully in God’s timing for His answers to our inquiries. As he promised, “Call on me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:15)