p. 19Why So Many Prayers Are Not Heard

Prayer is absolutely necessary to salvation; prayer is easy, is in every man’s power, wherever, whenever, as often as he wishes; prayer is all-powerful, for God has promised to grant us what we pray for; and nevertheless, so many persons complain that their prayers are not heard, however numerous, earnest and persistent they may be! If our prayers are not heard, not granted by God, the fault is not God’s, but ours. This we shall now see clearly.

1. In the first place, the prayers of some are not granted, because These Persons Are Unworthy, Unfit to Be Heard, on account of the hindrance they themselves place in the way, according to the prophet: “Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that thy prayer may not pass through” (Lament. 3. 44). That cloud is sin, mortal sin. The hardened, obstinate sinner who has no wish, no sincere desire to give up sin, is wholly undeserving of being heard by God, for he wilfully remains in sin, is a wilful enemy of God and has the intention, the will to continue in His enmity, in his sin. To such a sinner we may apply the saying of the man born blind, who had received his sight from Jesus: “God heareth not sinners” (John 9. 31). But as to the sinner who grieves over his sad state, and has, at least, the desire to give up sin and change his life, though he may be deterred from doing so on account of the great sacrifices this would require, he has some claims to be heard. Such a one should, before all else, pray God to impart to him the necessary courage and strength to give up sin. As to the sinner who is fully determined to do all in his power to amend his life, and prays God for the grace and strength to do so, God will, most assuredly grant his prayer and help him to do all that is required to recover His friendship and to lead henceforth a good and virtuous life, and will forgive him all his sins, however heinous and numerous they may be. But as to the sinner who does not detest his sin and has neither the will nor the desire to amend his life, the object of his prayer will be some temporal favor or advantage, which, if granted to him, would most probably enable him only the more to offend God and gratify his own passions by committing more sins. He, therefore, does not deserve to be heard; if, however, such a sinner were to pray for some spiritual favors, he has no reason to expect them, unless he first recovers the divine friendship and obtains God’s forgiveness by performing all that is required for this.

2. In the second place, Some Persons are not heard when they pray, because they Pray for Things That Would Prove Hurtful to Them, and it is a proof of mercy and love on the part of God not to grant such prayers. When He refuses to hear such prayers, God usually imparts something else that will prove more beneficial to the petitioner. God is like a kind and loving father, who because of his love for his child, steadily refuses to give him a thing he asks for and wishes to get by all means, if such a thing would prove dangerous or hurtful to him. Hence a good and reasonable father, because he dearly loves his little child, refuses him a sharp instrument, a loaded weapon, and everything that may in any way injure him or cause harm to others. God is the most loving of fathers; hence when a certain sick man prays to get well, to be free from pain or infirmity, and God knows well that if that sick man were to get well, he would end in going astray and lose his soul. Out of mercy He does not hear his prayer, but imparts to him some other favor, or some spiritual benefit. Another, a good practical Catholic, prays for success in business, for a good position, for a political office, and God foresees that if he were to attain the object of his desires, he would soon become so absorbed in material interests, wealth, goods or in his work, or get into dangerous habits or company, as to gradually neglect the interests of his immortal soul and wholly give up the practice of his holy religion, as has happened to so many others. In fact, does not a sad experience teach, that many a man, many a woman, would have remained good, charitable, virtuous, exemplary and faithful Catholics, had they never acquired wealth, power, influence or popularity, but, having attained the object of their desires, of their ambition, they found therein the occasions and enticements to wholly devote themselves to worldly pleasures, to the gratification of their passions, and entirely to forget their soul, their God, their eternity!

When we pray, we should ask God for what we need the most, that is, for spiritual gifts, for what concerns the salvation of our soul, for, asks our divine Saviour, “what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? Or what exchange will he give for his soul?” (Mat. 16. 26). Nothing should be dearer to us than our immortal soul, for if we lose it, all is forever lost for us. We should ask God to supply all the needs of our soul. To pray for these we should know them, and to find them out we should reflect much, examine what sins we usually commit, what hindrances we have to overcome to work out our salvation, instead of turning all our attention to our corporal and temporal wants. Let us not forget that Jesus Christ said: “Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, I will give it to you.” What is it we can and should ask God in the name of our Saviour, unless it be at least principally that which concerns the salvation of our soul, for which the Son of God became man and died on the cross? p. 21Hence we may ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, only for those things which directly or indirectly concern the salvation of our soul; as for that which has no reference whatever or is in opposition or injurious to the salvation of our soul we cannot claim to be heard by God, for such things are not included in the divine promise. As to spiritual goods, as to our needs in the work of our salvation, we may be sure of receiving them, when we ask them of the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, such as true sorrow for our sins, the forgiveness of our sins, confidence in God, the love of God and of our neighbor, humility, patience and resignation in sickness and trials, strength in temptations, the grace to pray well, holy purity, meekness, fidelity to our good resolutions, and the like. All this concerns our salvation.

As to temporal matters, we have a kind of claim to be heard when we pray for the necessaries of life, for our divine Saviour Himself has taught us to do so in His admirable prayer, the Our Father, in which He wishes us to say to our heavenly Father: “Give us this day our daily bread,” that is, necessary food, clothing and shelter. Whenever we ask for temporal blessings, such as success in our undertakings, the cure of disease, deliverance from crosses and trials, we should ask God for them conditionally, that is, pray for it in this manner: “O my God, grant me . . . if this is good for me, if it does not prove injurious to my salvation.” Let us, whenever we pray to God, observe the admonitions of our divine Saviour: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all the rest shall be added unto you” (Mat. 6. 33). If you act otherwise, Jesus will say to you as He did to the sons of Zebedee, who had asked to sit one at His right hand the other at His left, when He would come into His kingdom, that is, for the two highest positions, or offices: “You know not what you are asking” (Mat. 20. 22). Temporal misfortunes, corporal sufferings, physical evils, loss of goods are not real evils in themselves, for sin is the only real evil. Often all the aforesaid evils, as experience shows, are really great blessings and sometimes indispensable means of salvation, so that very frequently were God to free us from them, it would be rather a punishment than a blessing. Loss of health, of goods, sufferings, contradictions, disappointments, adversity and other so-called misfortunes cause many a sinner to be converted, to return to God, to amend his ways and lead a holy and virtuous life, who would, without them, have continued to live in sin and end in losing his soul. When fortune smiles on a man, he will naturally be more and more attached to worldly goods and may be easily estranged from God and from God’s service.

Moreover, just as God has destined for every man his place in heaven, so also He has destined for each man the crosses that will bring him to heaven. “This is the will of God,” says St. Paul, “your p. 22sanctification” (I Thess. 4. 3). This is also the will of God, that you save your soul by taking up your cross and following Jesus Christ carrying His. Hence do not expect by prayer to get rid of that cross to which is attached your salvation, the acquisition of your place in heaven.

It is not wrong, however, to pray for temporal goods and favors, for even the greatest saints have prayed for such. Even the Blessed Virgin herself at the marriage feast at Cana asked Jesus Christ for a temporal favor for the newly married couple, and Jesus Himself wrought His first miracle to grant that favor. But to neglect to pray for spiritual favors, for what is necessary for salvation, for what greatly promotes it, and to pray only for temporal benefits is to pray, at most, only for trifles, for useless things, and God would serve us right by not hearing such prayers. “God,” says St. Basil, “is almighty, and most liberal in His favors; we should, therefore, ask Him for great things, and not for mere trifles.” All temporal goods, however great and precious, are but trifles, when compared with even the slightest spiritual favor, or a single degree of divine grace, for every spiritual favor is of infinite value, having cost the blood of Jesus Christ to obtain it for us. Would you not charge with being foolish or demented the man who for the mere asking could obtain a donation of one million dollars, of which he were in need, but would, instead, ask for merely one nickel? What should we call that man who, by a short prayer, can obtain from God the full remission of all his grievous sins, and grace and strength to overcome all temptations, to subdue his passions and the glory of heaven, and yet will not pray God for any of these necessary means of salvation, but prays fervently and persistently and solely for a little temporal advantage, for goods that, far from making him happy and contented, will only cause him trouble, anxiety and bitterness, which he will soon have to give up, and which may have been for him the cause of his eternal damnation?

Therefore, when in our temporal wants or trials we have recourse to God, let us pray earnestly and fervently, indeed, but, at the same time, with a holy resignation, saying to Him as our divine Saviour did in His agony, “not as I will, but as Thou willest” (Mat. 26. 39). Let us imitate the example of a little boy related in the Life of Mgr. de Ségur, who, on account of his saintly life and wonderful zeal was surnamed “The blind apostle.” In the year 1865, on the occasion of the celebration at Annecy in Savoy of the two hundredth anniversary of the canonization of the meek and gentle St. Francis de Sales, thousands of pilgrims from every direction came to venerate his relics, and many of them also implored of God favors, spiritual and temporal, through the saint’s intercession. Mgr. de Ségur undertook daily to preach to the pilgrims. Among other things he said that in all our prayers for divine p. 23assistance, we should always pray especially that the will of God be done in our regard. One day there was in the audience a poor woman who had brought her little son blind from his birth. After the sermon she brought her little boy near the altar on which the saint’s relics were exposed, and said to him: “My child, ask of God through the intercession of St. Francis to give you your sight.” “But, dear Ma,” said the little boy, “did not Mgr. de Ségur just now tell us that we should have no other will than the will of God? I will not ask God for eyes, but for the will of God.” The lesson taught us by that little boy is admirable and needs no further explanation.